


Right Idea, Wrong Hero

by MsBrooklyn



Series: Assembly Line (or Why It's a Lot Harder than Steve Thought to Recruit New Members) [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Daredevil (TV), Spider-Man (Ultimateverse), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Clone Saga, Earth 1610, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-04
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-19 00:59:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 61,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4726820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsBrooklyn/pseuds/MsBrooklyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spider-man is trying to kill other the other super-soldiers.  Or is he?   Deadpool swears that the Spidey who tried to do him in has four arms.  The one with two arms?  He's Deadpool's new best friend ever!</p><p>Or...the one in which Steve and the Avengers get sucked into the Ultimate Verse Clone Wars.</p><p> </p><p>(First chapter originally posted on 8/12/15.  Accidentally deleted on 9/4/15 with 23 awesome chapters published, 6876 hits and 375 kudos.  Lesson learned -  never try to fix a typo on a moving train.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
  
  
  
  
Peter Parker is so not in the mood for the lecture on punctuality he's going to get when he arrives at the Tower.  He's been late before, stopping a mugging or a holdup, and no matter how good the reason, he's still in the doghouse with Clint.  The man sure can hold a grudge.  And worse, he threatened to tell Steve so that Peter would get stuck with more of Steve's creative punishments the next time Peter was more than ten minutes late.  
  
Peter is twenty minutes late already.  Is it his fault that Shocker guy chose today of all days to try to rob a rack of fur coats in the Fashion District?  Not that Peter is pro-fur.  But still.  Theft is theft and then he had to drag the guy into the nearest police station and try not to get arrested.  The designer whose coats were being taken wanted Peter arrested for ruining them with webbing.  Peter barely made it out of Midtown South without being slapped in handcuffs.  
  
He's just passed Bryant Park when his spider-sense tingles half a second before somebody opens fire on him.    
  
"Seriously?"  
  
Spotting the gun-wielding maniac is easy.  He's decked out in a bright red outfit and he's armed to the teeth.  
  
Spider-sense helps him dodge most of the bullets as he heads towards the guy on the roof of the Grace Building and a few bounce painfully off the Stark-Armor of his suit.  The lunatic keeps firing, like he's the villain in some bad B movie.  Peter webs the gun and pulls it out of the guy's hands.  "Dude, seriously --"  
  
"Who sent you?" the nut job demands, pulling a freaking sword from the sheath on his back.  
  
"Me?  Who sent you?"  
  
"You first!"  
  
"You're the one trying to kill me!"  Why is he even arguing with this guy?  "Buddy, I don't even know who you are."  
  
The guy's head tilts to the side and he sounds offended.  "Of course you do.  You just tried to kill me."  
  
"No," Peter corrects him.  "You tried to kill me with that ginormous gun."  
  
"You tried to kill me first and you even found time to change clothes and get rid of the extra arms."  The sword waves wildly.  "Did you molt them or something?"  
  
"Wow, you are completely nuts!"  Peter shoots a web to snag the sword but the guy dodges it.  
  
"Of course I am.  That's part of my charm, Spider-boy."  The guy lunges for him.  
  
Spider sense gets him out of the way just in time.  "Are you some sort of mutant?"  
  
"They hired you to kill me and you didn't bother doing your homework?" Crazy Red asks.  "You must be flunking out of school.  Looks like a future in fast food for you and an even shorter career as a merc."  
  
They dance around each other for a while, with Crazy Red pulling all sorts of weapons out of his suit and Peter snatching them away or webbing them to the guy's hands.  He seems to have an endless supply of guns and knives.  Peter can't help thinking that Bucky would love this guy, except for the part where Crazy Red keeps insisting Peter just tried to kill him.  He's insisting so hard that Peter is wondering if Crazy Red is really a bad guy.  
  
Finally, he webs the guy's feet to the rooftop and comes in close to knock him out.  
  
That's when the guy pretty much tears off his uniform and layers of his own skin to get free.  
  
It's the grossest thing Peter's ever seen anyone do to themselves and he barely manages to get his mask up in time before he barfs on the guy.  
  
And that, right there, is the most embarrassing thing he's ever done in the field.  
  
Ladies and gentlemen, the Amazing Spider-man just threw up on the guy he was fighting.  
  
"Wow," Crazy Red says, looking down at the puke covering the front of his red suit.  "That's really nasty.   Taco day in the school cafeteria, huh?"  
  
"I'm sorry."  Great.  Now he just apologized to the guy.  "I mean, uh..."  
  
"Apology accepted."  Crazy Red holds out his hand for Peter to shake.  "Truce?  Because I think I believe you now.  It wasn't you who tried to kill me but that means there's some other Spider-guy with four arms running around the city."  
  
"Um...  If I shake your hand does that mean you're not going to shoot at me again?"  
  
"Do you promise not to puke on me ever again, Spider-boy?"  
  
Peter points to the guy's naked raw, oozing legs and Holy Moses, he's missing a few toes, too.  "Are you going to do anything like that again?"  
  
"Probably," Crazy Red shrugs.  
  
"If you do that in front of me, I can't make any guarantees about throwing up."  
  
The guy heaves a dramatic sigh.  "Fine.  Whatever.  Shake my hand and let's part ways as friends."  
  
Peter shakes the guy's hand and watches as he slides down the curved glass front of the Grace Building and bounces onto the sidewalk.  Pedestrians scream and run but the nutball just walks along, bleeding all over the place and whistling what Peter thinks might be 'Don't Rain on My Parade.'  
  
Weird.  
  
  
  
0000000000000000000  
  
  
Steve is waiting for Peter in the gym and the stern expression on his face means that Clint made good on his promise to complain about tardiness.  "You're over an hour late."  
  
"Oh, for crying out loud," Peter complains, tugging off his mask and yes, he knows exactly how petulant he sounds.  "Seriously?  What do you think I was doing?"    
  
"I know you don't enjoy these sessions with Clint."  
  
Peter blows out a sigh.  "Ever spend time with someone who hates you?"  
  
"He's angry with you because he doesn't think you respect him," Steve counters.  "You've been late to every single session you've had, Peter."  
  
Peter throws his hands up.  "You think I'm doing this on purpose?  Really?  Like what?  I sent a text message to that Shocker nutjob and asked him to rob those stupid coats?  Or begged the cops at Midtown South to try to arrest me?  Oh and maybe I'm secretly best friends with that lunatic in red who tried to shoot me, stab me and impale me with a sword before ripping his own legs and feet off.  Because God knows, I will do *anything* to diss Clint Barton instead of trying to apologize for the millionth time."  
  
"JARVIS, who's the lunatic in red?" Clint asks dropping out of the ceiling vent. His eyes are narrowed at Peter, like he might be making the whole thing up.  "Show us the footage."  
  
"No!"  Peter protests.  
  
Both men stare at him.  
  
"Please?"  
  
"Show it," Steve orders.  
  
Peter buries his face in his hand.  This is so humiliating.  
  
"Peter's assailant was Wade Wilson, also known as Deadpool," JARVIS informs them.  "I have further information --"  
  
"No need.  I know who he is."  Clint looks disgusted and then his lips curl as the footage plays.  Then he turns to Peter.  "You threw up on Deadpool?"  
  
Face planted firmly in hand, Peter nods.  
  
"You _threw up_ on Deadpool," Clint repeats.  
  
Peter cringes.  
  
"He threw up on Deadpool," Clint tells Steve, lips curving into a smile.  
  
Steve eyes him.  "Would that be funny if I knew who this Deadpool character is?"  
  
"He's Parker's new best friend is who he is," Clint chortles.  "Congratulations kid.  You're out of the doghouse.  There's nothing I can do to you that's worse than having Deadpool as your new buddy."  
  
"I...what?  The guy tried to kill me," Peter protests.  "A-and he said I tried to kill him."  
  
"Yeah, he's nuttier than a fruitcake and now that he thinks you're his friend, you're never getting rid of him," Clint chuckles and then he sobers.  "Steve, whatever happens, you have to promise me that Deadpool is under no circumstances going to be joining the team."  
  
"Clint, I don't even know who he is," Steve says.    
  
Clint flashes a wicked smile.  "Gather round, my little super soldiers and let me tell you about Canada's Weapon X program."  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Will you tell me your name?" Matt asks.
> 
> "Spider-woman."

Chapter 2

 

"Jeez," Peter exclaims when Clint finishes his tale, "it's like anybody with five dollars and a Petri dish is trying to make their own super soldiers."

"Not just make 'em," Clint says. "Mass produce 'em. Stockpile 'em." He cuts his eyes over to Steve. "Before you go blaming yourself for being the first successful model, just remember, if it wasn't you, it'd be somebody else."

Peter shudders. "I knew about Logan but I didn't know about this Deadpool guy."

Steve raises an eyebrow. He's heard about Wolverine and read briefings about him. “You knew about him?”

“Sure we’ve…uh, hung out. Sort of.”

“You ‘hung out’ with…” He can’t even bring himself to say it. “Doing what?”

"Weird X-Men stuff mostly,” Peter shrugs but doesn’t elaborate on what ‘weird X-Men stuff’ means. “And then there was the time he hid in my basement and --"

"He what?!" 

"Hid in my basement." Peter drums his fingers on the hardwood floor of the gym where the three of them are sitting and then he flops onto his back, emitting a sigh that seems to come from the depths of his soul. "These...I swear, we never found out who they were...nutjobs with guns and fake diaper trucks came after him and shot the ever-loving heck out of him so he broke into my house and hid in my basement to recover. Up until today, that was the most disgusting thing I'd ever seen or smelled." 

Steve stares at the boy. He's had his powers for less than a year and yet the amount of – for lack of a better word – shit that the boy deals with is nothing short of mind-blowing.

"You lead an interesting life, kid," Clint tells him and Steve is grateful because he’s not sure he can form a sentence.

"You have no idea," Peter groans. "I need a vacation from being me." He props himself up on an elbow and eyes Clint suspiciously. "Speaking of how much being me sucks, aren't you supposed to be smacking me around and calling it training right about now?"

"We're done with mandatory sessions. If I train you again, it's because you think I have something to teach you." Clint lifts an eyebrow in a silent challenge.

"Of course you do," Peter tells him earnestly, sitting up.

"Such as?" Clint asks, not letting him off the hook but Steve can tell that he's close to forgiving Peter.

"My God, everything. Dude, you're the only non-superpowered Avenger and you keep up with these guys. Do you not get how amazing I think you are?"

"You pulled me out of harm's way, remember?"

"I'd do it again," Peter says quietly. "I don't care how mad it makes you. I'd rather have you alive and pissed off at me forever than dead because Osborn threw you off the bridge and I couldn't catch you." His breath hitches. "I have nightmares about it. I used to just have nightmares about Osborn throwing Mary Jane off the Queensboro Bridge and now I have nightmares where he throws both of you and I can't save you guys and --"

"Okay. It's okay. You saved me." Clint pats Peter on the shoulder, shooting a concerned look at Steve. "Just don't save me again unless I really need saving."

"I promise." Peter hangs his head. "And I know what I said was awful and insulting and I'm so sorry, Clint. I --"

"I forgive you."

Steve feels like he can finally exhale. He hates when there's tension on the team. "Peter, you've had a rough day. You should go home."

Peter nods in agreement. "I think I'm gonna take the subway, if that gives you any idea how lousy I'm feeling."

"I have a better idea. I'll take you --"

"No!"

Steve blinks and sees Clint smirking at the vehemence of Peter's protest. "We can take a car instead of my motorcycle."

"Dude, no. Just...no, okay?"

"Peter..."

Heaving yet another weary sigh, Peter's shoulders slump and he fixes Steve with a world-weary expression. "Look, Steve. Aunt May is never going to say this and she'll kill me if she knew I said it because it's so totally rude but the thing is… The thing is, she's exhausted. If you come over, she's going to insist on making dinner because she loves cooking for you and she loves seeing how happy you get when you visit Bucky but she needs a break. She works all day and Bucky has crazy nightmares so we're all up at night and last night Gwen came over and said she was thinking of killing herself and nobody got any sleep and then the Sheriff of Crazy Town brought out her crazy guns because Gwen stayed over and --"

"English, kid," Clint cuts him off. "You're babbling."

"Because I haven't had a good night's sleep in two weeks! I slept during English class today and boy, was that humiliating when the teacher yelled at me." Peter buries his face in his hand. 

Clint pats the kid's shoulder again. "Start with this Gwen person. Who is she?"

"She's this weird girl from school. I don't know her very well and last night she broke into my basement and said she was thinking of killing herself because her mom took off and left, like, this really vile note about how she didn't want to be married or Gwen's mom anymore." Peter stops and comes up for air. "Bucky heard her break in and he went down there with one of his many, many guns and if I hadn't stopped him... Anyway, we tried calling Captain Stacy but he was out on a stakeout or something so Aunt May let Gwen stay and then Mary Jane called --"

"The Sheriff of Crazy Town?" Clint asks.

"You have no idea,” Peter sighs. “She thinks Gwen likes me or something." 

Clint is smirking now. "Because that would be nuts."

"Exactly," Peter agrees. He looks over at Steve. "We told Gwen that Bucky is Aunt May's second cousin but I seriously have no idea how we'd explain you. Also -- and please don't take this the wrong way -- feeding you and Bucky is crazy expensive. I've been so busy training that I haven't had time to take pictures to sell to the Bugle so money's even tighter --"

"You do what now?" Steve asks.

"You didn't know?" Peter blinks at him. "I take pictures of myself as Spider-man and sell them to the Daily Bugle so Jolly Jonah can use them in his editorials about what a menace I am. He's been asking me to come back and work on the website again and I know it'd cut into my time here but..."

Steve stares at him. "You worked for the Daily Bugle?"

"I told you when we first met that I had an after school job, Steve." He draws himself up proudly. "I administered their website when I wasn't fired. Jonah fired me every couple of weeks because he’s a complete loon. But I had access to their archives and you wouldn't believe how much information they have."

"Isn't Tony paying you to be his intern?" Steve asks.

"He was trying to pay me for training with you guys and I'm not taking money for that," Peter says indignantly. "The Bugle pays me a hundred and fifty bucks a photo and yeah, I know I'm being ripped off but a photo a week covers web fluid ingredients and helps out at home."

It's Steve's turn to be embarrassed. "I hadn't realized... I can give you money for --"

"No!" Peter leaps to his feet. "But you can give Aunt May a break and bring dinner the next time you show up."

"That I can do." Steve stands up and squeezes Peter's shoulders. "I'm still going to give you a ride home. If you're that tired, you can nap while I drive you."

"Steve," Peter yawns, "I am exhausted."

Steve understands completely. He's exhausted just from hearing about Peter's life.

 

00000000000000000000000

 

It's quiet night in his city. Matt's learned the hard way that quiet nights are usually the lull before the storm but that doesn't stop him from enjoying the respite. He's standing on the roof of the building at 54th Street and 11th Avenue, listening to a Spirit dinner-cruise ship go past along the Hudson when he hears the familiar sound of Peter's heartbeat coming closer.

And then Peter stops half a block away.

It's unusual but not out of the ordinary. When Peter first started tagging along, he experimented with finding out how long it took Matt to pinpoint his location. He hasn't done it for a while though.

Matt focuses, trying to get to the bottom of Peter's reluctance to approach and that's when he notices that Peter's webbing smells different. Peter smells different. He smells...female. It's most definitely not the sexual mingling of male and female scents. This is a girl. A teenager. He tilts his head to get a better read of the situation and realizes that she's slightly warmer than Peter. Ovulating? 

Female. Ovulating. And she smells like Peter. 

Who the hell is this child?

If she has Peter's abilities -- and he has every reason to think she might if she's using webs -- she has enhanced hearing. The key is not to say anything that will scare her off. Or provoke her.

"Hello," he says softly. There, innocuous but friendly.

There's a long pause. "Hi Matt."

He stiffens. She knows who he is. She smells like Peter, has his abilities and she knows who he is. It takes effort to force himself to relax and to try to keep the conversation going. Peter is chatty. It's never an effort to get him to talk unless he's upset. "Busy night?"

"No. You?"

"No. Want to come in and have a hot cocoa?" Since he's been spending time with Peter, he's kept a supply in his kitchen. 

There's a soft feminine laugh. "That'd be kind of awkward."

"Why? Don't you like cocoa?"

"I like cocoa and I like you but..." She moves out from behind the rooftop stairwell that obscured her and prevented him from learning more about her.

"But?" He can sense her size and shape now. She's Peter's height and just about his weight -- slender with delicate, feminine curves.

"But...we don't really know each other."

Damn it. She's getting spooked. He's a lawyer. He can be persuasive and he's been known to be charming with the ladies a time or two, as well. "You know my name and you know you like me. I'd say you know me, wouldn't you?"

"It's not real."

What the hell does that mean? "We're talking so we're making it real, aren't we? Every word we share means that we know each other a little bit more. Will you tell me your name or just any name if that's more comfortable for you?"

He can hear her breathing and her heartbeat accelerate. She's going to bolt.

Matt decides to go for broke. "Peter trusts me."

"Spider-woman," she says and there's the strangest sound, then the scent of that unusual webbing before she launches herself from her hiding spot and swings off into the night.

Spider-woman.

The lull is over and Matt doesn’t think he’s prepared for this latest Peter Parker-related shitstorm.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Eight months," Steve mutters incredulously, staring at the footage of the girl. "He's had his powers for eight months."

"Peter?"  
  
The boy is sound asleep. He fell asleep before Steve pulled out of the Tower's garage and slept the entire way to Forest Hills. Steve taps him lightly on the shoulder but Peter doesn't stir. He gets out of the car, slings Peter's backpack over his shoulder and scoops the sleeping boy up, carrying him to the front door where Bucky is waiting.  
  
Bucky beckons him inside and leads him upstairs. As Steve sets Peter down on the bed, he realizes it's the first time he's ever seen Peter's room. It's neater than a teenage boy's room should be but the desk has a small stack of scientific journals and articles. The bookcase is packed with texts on bioengineering, chemistry, biographies of scientists, and, Steve notes wryly, a biography of Captain America. On top of the bookcase are medals for achievement in science and math, a valedictorian medal from his middle school and a trophy for winning the 9th Grade Science Fair. The night stand has a photo of a younger Peter standing with a man that Steve assumes must have been his uncle.  
  
He steps out of the room, closes the door and nods a greeting to Bucky.  
  
"Follow me," Bucky says, leading Steve down through the kitchen and into the basement. "This is where he spends most of his time."  
  
The basement looks like a low-budget version of Tony's lab. On the far end of the room is a blackboard with an equation that Steve can't even begin to fathom. There are more scientific texts, along with the expensive microscope Tony recently gave the boy and a stack of handwritten notes next to it.  
  
"Switch out the science stuff for art supplies and he's just like you at that age," Bucky tells Steve. "You should have seen the look on his face when I offered to throw a baseball around with him. Like a deer in headlights. Just like you, Stevie. Still, the kid doesn't need to throw baseballs, not with smarts like he's got. Aunt May did a good job raising him."  
  
Steve blinks. "You call her Aunt May?"  
  
"We all call her Aunt May." Bucky picks up one of the notebooks on Peter's desk and flips through it before setting it back down. "Me, that Gwen kid, Sam, Natasha --"  
  
"Natasha was here?"  
  
"Sam brought her. I think she loved seeing how normal people live." Bucky sighs contentedly and then his gaze hardens as he looks at Steve. "I don't remember a lot from before. Or during. Bits and pieces, a little more every day. Being around normal people helps, triggers good memories, you know?"  
  
"I'm glad," Steve says.  
  
"You wish I was with you in that fancy tower you live in where you could make sure I'm not going to snap and kill the Parkers in their sleep."  
  
"Buck --"  
  
"I made the kid web me up the first couple of nights," Bucky admits with a shrug. "Some nights I sleep on the floor of his room. If I sleep. 'S hard. I know I'm putting these nice people through hell with my shit, Stevie. I just...feel safe here and I didn't even know I needed that."  
  
Steve is about to respond when he hears footsteps approaching and sees Mary Jane bounding down the stairs.  
  
"What are you two goofballs doing down here?" she asks.  
  
"Hey brat!" Bucky hooks his hands under her arms, lifts her up and swings her around. Steve remembers Bucky doing that with his sister. "I heard you ripped Petey a new one last night."  
  
"You heard right, buster."  
  
"Jealousy isn't a good color on you, doll," Bucky scolds her as he sets her down.  
  
Mary Jane bristles. "I am not --"  
  
His lips curve into a teasing smile that makes Steve's heart ache with nostalgia. "You most certainly are."  
  
"You saw how she dresses! And she's blonde and weird and needy and --"  
  
"Not you," Bucky says firmly. "Petey is nuts about you."  
  
"He is," Steve agrees. "And if this Gwen girl likes him, he hasn't noticed."  
  
Mary Jane narrows her eyes at him. "Why do you know her name?"  
  
"What are all of you doing down there?" Aunt May asks, standing at the top of the stairs, her purse still slung over her shoulder. "Is Peter all right, Captain Rogers?"  
  
"He's upstairs sleeping. Bit of a rough day for him." Steve answers and then, for the heck of it adds, "Aunt May."  
  
Her face lights up as if he's just given her a gift. "Well, Steven, I'm ordering pizza for dinner. You're welcome to stay. Mary, are you staying?"  
  
"Peter and I are supposed to go over our lab assignment tonight," Mary Jane answers.  
  
"Is that what we're calling getting up to shenanigans these days?" Aunt May chuckles. "The bedroom door stays open, young lady."  
  
"Oh my god," Peter moans from behind Aunt May. He still looks sleepy, Steve notices. "You did not just say that. We don't! We actually study!"  
  
She turns and raises an eyebrow at him.  
  
"And we talk Spidey stuff."  
  
Bucky elbows Steve. "Do you believe that?"

Steve does but plays along, marveling that Bucky is not only conversing but joking. He's right. Living with the Parkers has been a godsend. "No."

Peter rolls his eyes. "You...you traitors!"  
  
"We were both fifteen once," Steve informs him.  
  
"There's something the history books never mention," Mary Jane says, nudging Bucky as they head up the stairs to the kitchen. "Steve Rogers and his teenage shenanigans. I'll bet you have all the dirt."  
  
Bucky grins wickedly even though Steve knows for a fact that there are no teenage shenanigans to speak of. "You better believe I do, dollface."  
  
Steve slips past them towards Aunt May and speaks quietly, though he knows both Peter and Bucky can hear him. "Dinner is my treat tonight, Aunt May."  
  
"Oh, Steven, I can't --"  
  
"Please, ma'am." He sees Peter giving him a nod of approval.  
  
She stands up on tiptoe and kisses his cheek.  
  
In that moment, Steve envies Bucky. He gets to live this life, to be part of a home where the loud invasive century is part of the background and not the entire environment as it would be in the Tower. Bucky is treated like a person, not like a feral animal they're trying to tame. And Bucky is responding to it, surprising the team of therapists and psychologists who have been listening to Steve's and Sam's observations these past weeks.  
  
Peter flashes a grin at him. "Nice to see your mask come off for a change, Steve."  
  
It finally clicks then. Peter wouldn't have this life if the public knew he was Spider-man, the way Steve can only borrow bits and pieces of this life because he's Captain America.  
  
"It's nice to be able to take off the mask," Steve tells him.

 

00000000000000000000

 

"Bullshit," Clint says.  
  
"JARVIS, can we get NYPD surveillance footage to determine whether or not Daredevil here has lost his mind?" Tony asks. He makes an annoyed sound when the larger of the two robots approaches and tries to give him something. "Not now, Dum-E."  
  
Matt pulls out the Ziploc bag with the sample of webbing he retrieved and holds it out to Tony because he knows that one does not hand things to Tony. "I can't tell you what it looks like but I can tell you it smells nothing like the synthetic web Peter uses. It smells very much like every cobweb I've ever encountered, only stronger."  
  
Tony opens the baggie and sniffs. "That's what a cobweb smells like?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And you could smell that she was ovulating?"  
  
"No, I could sense her elevated body temperature."  
  
Tony chuckles. "You have the most awesome powers out of everybody, Murdock. Just saying. What I wouldn't give to be able to sniff out --"  
  
"She was a child," Matt interrupts him before Tony can say anything crude. "And she smelled like Peter."  
  
There's a soft chime and the air in front of Matt heats slightly where JARVIS projects the video.  
  
"Jesus," Clint exclaims. "Would you look at that ? There really is a Spider-girl."  
  
"She called herself Spider-woman," Matt corrects him.  
  
Tony's heart rate speeds up. "That's... JARVIS, disturb Banner."  
  
"Sir, his protocols --"  
  
"Override on my authority, buddy. He's not going to want to miss this. See if you can search for more footage on this kid and find out where she went, where she came from and how long she's been running around in her little tights." Tony exhales. "Not that you need me to tell you this, Murdock, but you were right on the money. She's a female version of Peter. JARVIS, do you have stats on the girl?"  
  
"The young woman in the video is 66.24 inches tall and has an approximate body weight of one hundred and eight pounds," JARVIS responds. "Peter is sixty-seven inches tall with a body weight of one hundred and twenty pounds."  
  
Matt hears Bruce before he walks into the lab and he hears Bruce's pulse start to race. He listens with clenched fists as Bruce brings his breathing and heart rate under control.  
  
"Is that what I think it is?" Bruce asks, gesturing to what Matt is certain is the footage of the girl.  
  
Tony holds up the baggie. "We have biological material to test. Matt recovered it for us."  
  
"Organic webs?" Bruce takes the baggie from Tony, turning it over in his hand.  
  
"Yes," Matt tells him. "Definitely organic."  
  
"Tell him the rest, Murdock," Tony urges.  
  
Bruce shifts slightly as he turns to Matt. "I'd love to know what your senses told you, Matt."  
  
Even though Bruce keeps his distance from the team, Matt likes the man's calm demeanor and respectful way of speaking. He also understands why Bruce keeps his distance. "She smelled like a female version of Peter and she knew me. Can they do that, Bruce? Can they make a clone with a completely different gender and all of Peter's memories?"  
  
There's the slightest inhalation that betrays Bruce's illusion of calmness. "A female clone? It's definitely possible with all the advances in genetic engineering. There are theories about memories, but only theories. Human testing is against the law so those theories can't really be tested, other than in terms of behavioral patterns in animals."  
  
"Damn straight it's against the law," Clint says firmly. "Fury went after this kind of stuff with a vengeance --"  
  
"Fury's hiding somewhere pretending to be dead," Tony counters. "He's been off the radar for months, which is plenty of time to cook up a clone in a HYDRA or AIM lab, isn't it, Banner?"  
  
"Theoretically, yes." He sounds distracted, like he's working the problem in his mind as he speaks. "Oh. Oh my."  
  
Matt tilts his head towards Bruce. "What?"  
  
"Cloning humans is notoriously difficult because of genome stability issues but Peter..." Bruce trails off, hums to himself and then continues. "Peter's genomes would be far more durable, possibly even moreso than the other super soldier that HYDRA had access to --"  
  
"Barnes?" Clint interrupts.  
  
Bruce nods and Matt hears the rustle of his hair brushing the collar of his shirt. "I would imagine they've been using his blood and attempting to recreate him in some fashion or another for decades."  
  
"No imagining necessary," Tony puts in. "Those bastards documented every sick experiment. JARVIS, pull the files and put them in a new work queue along with these videos. Call it Spider Clone and label it for Banner and myself to review."  
  
Clint's heartbeat surges and Matt can tell there's a 'eureka moment' coming. "What about the Weapon X program? The kid ran into Deadpool today and that can't be a coincidence."  
  
"What's a Deadpool?" Matt asks, though he knows it can only mean more trouble headed Peter's way. What else could it mean? The boy is a magnet for larger-than-life problems.  
  
"Fuck me. The nutball said he was attacked," Clint sighs. "JARVIS pull the Deadpool footage and see if you can find any footage from the attack Deadpool mentioned."  
  
"That information has already been compiled," JARVIS says.  
  
"Christ on a cracker. What the hell is that?" Tony exclaims.  
  
Matt clenches his teeth, frustrated. "JARVIS, a little assistance for the visually impaired, please."  
  
"I've got it, J," Tony says, waving his hand. "There's some sort of spider-person-thing and it has four arms. It's attacking somebody --"  
  
"Deadpool," Clint explains. "Canadian super soldier experiment with an off-the-charts healing factor. He's also a complete lunatic. And he's...well, not something you want to look at on a full stomach if he takes his mask off."  
  
"Did he just tear off his own legs and feet?" Tony asks, sounding sick. "Wait. He must have because Parker just vomited on him. And there he goes, jumping off a roof. You're right, Barton. The guy's nuts."  
  
"He's also one of the deadliest mercenaries out there," Clint says. "Of course, he's just as likely to kill the guy who hired him as well as the target and half the population of a small country while he's at it."  
  
It's the most surreal conversation Matt's ever had and that's saying quite a bit since he's joined Steve's little band of heroes and met Peter Parker. Still, he can't help make the next intuitive jump. "Would it be logical to assume that the clone, if that four armed thing was truly some type of clone of Peter, was being tested as a weapon against other super soldiers?"  
  
Clint snorts. "Damn straight. If it could survive against Deadpool, it might be able to take down Barnes or Steve. And if there's more than one, like a cute little murderous Spider-girl, a bunch of them might really be able to do some damage."  
  
"She wasn't murderous," Matt says. He's not sure why he's defending the girl. They barely spoke but nothing about her was threatening. "I think she was trying to reach out to me."  
  
"I think you're nuts," Clint tells him. "More importantly, I think we need to warn Steve these things are on the loose."  
  
"We also need to warn Peter."  
  
Clint inhales sharply. "You wanna be the one to tell him somebody cloned him?"  
  
"Someone has to do it," Matt argues and then he surprises himself by acting like he's part of a team. "It should be Steve's call."  
  
"Look at you, lil devil," Clint chuckles. "You better be careful or soon you'll be the one organizing the team dinners."  
  
"Why now?" Tony asks. "SHIELD had samples of Peter's blood for months, which means HYDRA had access to them. Why now?"  
  
"Because," Matt says slowly, "now the Winter Soldier is a liability that needs to be disposed of before he can air any of their dirty little secrets in a court of law."

0000000000000000

 

 

"Ever wonder how it's possible for one scrawny little kid to be the center of so much bullshit?" Clint asks. It's been one thing after the other since Steve tried to recruit the kid and even before that, Clint had been involved in some of the SHIELD clean up ops. Those clean ups seemed to happen on a weekly basis, now that he thinks about it.  
  
"Eight months," Steve mutters incredulously, staring at the footage of the girl. "He's had his powers for eight months."  
  
Murdock tilts his head towards Steve. "Do you think I'm right?"  
  
"About the clones being used as weapons to go after Bucky? Yes," Steve tells him. "About telling Peter? We may not have a choice. We have no idea how many clones are out there. It would be better for us to tell him than for him to discover it on his own."  
  
"Now you get why Fury had the information about Parker on lockdown, huh?" Clint asks. He rubs his chin and decides to put everything out there. "Fury had these...uh...things made. Spider Slayers, he called 'em. In case the kid got dangerous."  
  
Steve's eyebrows threaten to climb off his face. "Spider Slayers?"  
  
"In case the kid got dangerous," Clint repeats. "You see the pressure on the kid. How much can he take before he snaps?"  
  
"He's not going to snap," Murdock grinds out. No guessing necessary to figure out how he feels about the idea.  
  
Clint doesn't have the heart to tell Murdock how he's seen what he thought were well-adjusted adults snap from less. Then again, he isn't so sure Murdock won't snap from the stress of dealing with the kid's bullshit.  
  
"No. Peter won't. He has a supportive environment and a sound moral compass," Steve agrees with Murdock. Of course he would. He's Captain Freaking America and he's got a soft spot a mile wide when it comes to the kid. "That doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful how we tell him."  
  
"You think there's an easy way to put it?" Clint asks. "What do you think will freak him out less? The cloning part? The thing with the arms? Or that they made a girl?"  
  
"Eight months," Steve sighs.  
  
Clint nods in agreement. "Whose bright idea was it to recruit him?"  
  
"Yours."  
  
Shit.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hey, I know what'll make you feel better." Deadpool pulls a gun out of God only knows where and thrusts it in Peter's direction. "Shooting back is great for stress relief and nausea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes:  
> So...I had a rough day at work and what better way to relieve stress than have Deadpool start shooting up a mall? Ah, I feel much better now.
> 
> A few random notes:
> 
> Before anyone yells at me, the Ultimate verse Scorpion is a Peter clone. It's canon, I swear.
> 
> Also, I have nothing whatsoever against Cinnabon and Footlocker. Or Nikes.

Chapter 4

 

She's been in his apartment.

While Matt's been out talking to the Avengers about her, Peter's female clone has been in his apartment and... Stealing his food? Yes. Stealing his food. At least he knows she's eating healthy foods with none of those horrible pesticides or additives.

His wallet is on the night stand next to his bed, untouched.

Nothing else has been taken or even disturbed.

Matt debates sending a text message to Steve or Clint and then decides against it. A text message would lead to a visit from either or both and he's heard enough about clones and this Deadpool character to keep him up without their presence. Worrying about young Spider-woman is also going to keep him awake. However she came into the world, she is a fifteen year old girl and she's on the streets tonight. And Matt knows enough about Peter Parker to know that this girl is in more trouble than she can handle.

No, he's not going to get a wink of sleep.

 

00000000000000000

It's a bad idea.

Steve knows it's a bad idea but he needs to speak with Peter and he needs to do it sooner rather than later. And he'd prefer not to have Peter worry all day by asking him to come to the Tower after school. These reasons made a lot more sense to him before he was idling on his bike in front of Peter's high school and hoping his helmet would be enough to hide his identity.

The helmet works well enough that the kids walk right past him, engrossed in their phones or their gossip. He watches and waits for Peter and finally, Peter comes hurrying up the street. Just as he passes a group of kids, the largest of them detaches himself from the crowd and kicks Peter from behind, sending him sprawling across the sidewalk.

That, Steve realizes, is the infamous Flash Thompson. He knows how well Peter's spider-sense works and now he understands what it must cost him to have to hide it to protect his identity by putting up with that foolishness.

Peter gets up, brushes himself off, sees Steve and freezes.

Steve waves at him.

Peter looks over his shoulder at the crowd of kids, cringes as the bell rings and then trudges over to Steve looking like he is walking to his execution. "What? What now?"

Definitely a bad idea. He tries to mend fences by digging out his handkerchief and offering it to Peter. "You have a cut on your chin."

"Oh my god," Peter moans. "What is wrong with you that you'd show up at my school?"

"I need to talk to you --"

"Ever hear of the telephone? There's also e-mail and the frigging Internet. There's not a single reason for you to show up in front of my school and jeopardize my identity unless you're out of your star-spangled mind!" Peter is glaring at him now, furious, and Steve knows he deserves every bit of the tongue-lashing he's getting. "Hey, I know, we should have Tony fly over. And maybe Bruce'll hulk out during lunch period --"

"Peter --"

"No!" Peter shakes his head. "Whatever this is can wait until after school and you get to be the one who explains why I got another tardy slip to Aunt May later." With that, he turns on his heel and jogs away.

"That went well," Steve mutters to himself.

 

00000000000000000

 

"You needed this."

"I did." Peter agrees, munching on a French fry.

Mary Jane smiles at him across the table. "You're going to apologize to Steve even though he's the one who screwed up, aren't you?"

Peter sighs glumly and looks out across the food court. He knows he should have headed to the Tower after school instead of the Queens Center Mall with Mary Jane but he also knows he wouldn't have been capable of having a civilized conversation with Steve. Not after that stunt he pulled and not after the half dozen text messages Steve sent afterwards. "I can't believe he just showed up like that!"

"He sent you a text and apologized," Mary Jane points out and swipes one of his fries.

"He also saw Flash kick me across the campus." Peter hangs his head. "God, that's humiliating."

"Which is worse?" she asks. "That he showed up or what he saw?"

"I swear I don't even know." His phone buzzes again with another message from Steve. "Oh my God, I'm being stalked by Captain America."

Mary Jane plucks the phone from his hand, types quickly and then hands it back. "There."

"There? What did you -- oh man. You didn't."

"I did."

Oh yes, she did. "'Not now, still pissed at you?' Really?"

"You are."

"I am." His phone buzzes again.

"Now what?"

"He says he's not asking again. I need to get over to the Tower, pronto. That's an 'order'." Peter makes sarcastic air quotes. No sooner does he lower his hands than the phone rings.

Mary Jane leans over. "It's him, isn't it?"

"Of course it is." He hits 'ignore' just as there's a loud crash behind them. The phone rings again. Peter turns, sees a guy in a green reptile suit with a long tail that he's using to destroy everything in his path. He snatches up the phone, hits 'answer' and says, "Can't talk now. Some lunatic is wrecking the mall."

Steve is still speaking when Peter hangs up on him.

"I was really enjoying those fries," Peter sighs as he runs into the Men's Room to change.

Minutes later, he comes out, tosses his backpack to Mary Jane and goes off to deal with the mini-Godzilla. The guy is on a rampage, destroying everything in his path indiscriminately. Peter snags a toddler with a web, pulling him out of the way of a flying clothes rack.

The child's mother starts screaming and calling Peter a monster.

"Just because they ran out of those jeans in your size is no reason to trash the mall," Peter tells the guy, as he swings in close.

The guy's costume has a long tail with a spike on the end of it. "I'm the Scorpion and I'm better than you. I-I'm going to --"

"Seriously? You made a scorpion suit because you have an inferiority complex?" Peter dodges as the tail lashes in his direction.

"I'm smarter than you."

"Dressed like that?"

"I am."

"Well, if you're so smart, let's skip to the part where we both know I've beaten the crap out of you," Peter tells him. Okay, this is a good sign. They're talking, not fighting. Maybe he can reason with the guy. "We can avoid a lot of property damage and bad publicity that way."

Reason goes out the window when the police show up. "On the ground! Now!"

The Scorpion turns and fires something from the wrists of his suit. Whatever it is burns the police officers on contact. The ones that aren't burned open fire and the Scorpion reaches out, grabs one by the throat and throws him at Peter.

Peter catches the guy and sets him down only to have the cop take a swing at him. "Really? That's the thanks I get?"

"Pfffft. Nobody has manners anymore." Deadpool pops out from behind the Cinnabon and opens fire at the police. "How are you doing, Spider-boy?"

"It's Spider-man and please stop shooting at the police."

"They're shooting at us."'

"They're shooting at him!" Peter points to the Scorpion.

"And us," Deadpool corrects him, turning to open fire at the Scorpion who shoots globs of fiery acid at them. "Whoa, check that out."

"Oh my god," Peter gags. "Your arm's on fire!"

Deadpool slaps it out and shrugs. "For a superhero, you're really squeamish." He cocks his head at Peter. "You're not gonna puke again, are you, little buddy?"

"Um..."

"Hey, I know what'll make you feel better." Deadpool pulls a gun out of God only knows where and thrusts it in Peter's direction. "Shooting back is great for stress relief and nausea."

"Get that thing away from me!"

"Her name is Lucy," Deadpool sniffs indignantly, "and she's a very sexy Glock 19."

"Whatever," Peter mutters, launching himself towards the Scorpion who's cornered three police officers and just set them on fire. He grabs the guy by the shoulder and punches him in the face.

The Scorpion's tail swats Peter onto his ass. "You're not listening!"

"Dude, you're not saying anything!" Peter leaps back to his feet, dodges the tail and punches him again. Hard.

The Scorpion punches back, sending Peter flying crashing through the window of the Foot Locker. He lands on top of a display of Nike Airs which don't do much to break his fall.

Peter shakes it off, recovering just in time for the Scorpion to come in after him. He throws a solid punch to the guy's jaw, snapping his head back. Pressing his advantage, Peter keeps hitting him until the face plate of the costume starts to shatter under the assault.

"Y-you're not listening," the Scorpion repeats.

Peter shuts him up with one final punch that destroys the face plate completely.

He freezes when he sees the Scorpion's face.

It's his.

 

00000000000000000000000000000

 

"Damn it."

"Get all that strong language out of your system before the kid shows up, Capsicle," Tony warns him, his voice distorted by the Iron Man armor.

Steve shoots the other man a look. "ETA, JARVIS?"

"Four minutes, Captain Rogers."

Steve paces the roof until he sees Peter's silhouette and the shape of the clone he's carrying. He's never been so happy about the comms devices built in Peter's suits as he is today. He is especially grateful that Peter used it to tell Steve he was on his way with 'something really weird.'

Peter lands heavily, dropping the clone at Steve's feet. He looks more shaken than Steve has ever seen him. "Uh, w-we need to --"

"On it," Tony assures him, scooping up the clone. "I'll put this somewhere safe, don't you worry."

"This?" Peter echoes weakly. "That's me."

"Peter?" Steve takes a step towards him and Peter backs away, eyes wide and expression horrified.

"Oh crap."

"Peter?"

"Oh no. What'd I do?"

"Peter?"

"I left Deadpool at the mall. He was shooting at cops and I f-freaked out and I left him there. Oh my god, I screwed up. I need to go --"

"Clint's taking care of it," Steve tells him, gently. "Come on inside, son. We can talk --"

"This is why you came..." Peter trails off, swallows hard and then turns to throw up loudly in one of the planters. "I blew you off...should have listened to you...God, I'm an idiot." He sits down hard and shudders violently. "Th-that's a clone, isn't it?"

"We believe it is, yes," Steve says, sitting down across from the boy. He needs to be a calm, soothing presence no matter how much seeing one of Peter's clones up close has shaken him.

Peter looks positively gutted. "What aren't you telling me?" His eyes are glistening dangerously. "You're n-not telling me something."

"You should come in --"

"No!"

"This is going to difficult for you to hear," Steve warns. He puts some steel into his voice.

Peter narrows his eyes at Steve. "There's more of them, aren't there?"

"At least two that we know of." Steve braces himself for the reaction. "One is female."

"Why?" His voice is choked. "Do you know why?"

It occurs to Steve that, biologically, he's only twelve or thirteen years older than Peter. This conversation makes him feel every single one of the years spent in the ice. "The short answer is because they can. The longer answer is that Bucky isn't under their control anymore and needs to be eliminated."

"But why me? What did I ever do to anybody?" He sniffles and wipes at his eyes.

"Why not me?" Steve asks, voicing Peter's unspoken question. "In my case, I was out of reach and there were no blood samples for them to play around with. Bucky...well, Tony has records of seventy years' worth of attempts to use him to make more super soldiers. Give them time, Peter, and I'm sure they'll find a way to come after me."

"I didn't mean that. You don't deserve --"

"Neither do you. I don't think 'deserve' has anything to do with it." He stands up and grabs Peter's arm, tugging him to his feet. "The why is less important than the where, since we have every reason to believe the who is HYDRA. We need to find that out and shut them down."

Peter squints up at him. "We? You're not benching me?"

"You'd just disobey me if I did," Steve shrugs.

"It's like you know me or something."

Steve exhales with relief to hear the boy joking. "We're going to take care of this, Peter."

"Yeah, we -- " Peter freezes. "Bucky. H-he's in my house. With my aunt. With these...these clones on the loose --"

"JARVIS?" Steve drapes an arm around Peter's shoulders. "Tell Peter where Sam is."

"Falcon is at Peter's house, briefing Sergeant Barnes, sir."

"He's keeping an eye on Mary Jane, too," Steve explains. "We have your back, son. I promise you."

"That's good," Peter says.

And then he faints.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "How long will it take you to heal from a bullet in the brain?" Barnes growls.
> 
> "Forty minutes."
> 
> "Mind if I test that?"
> 
> Deadpool holds out both hands in invitation. "Heck no! I'd love to get shot by you. It's been a dream of mine ever since I heard of you."
> 
> Barnes makes his dream come true.

Chapter 5  
  
  
  
  
  
Peter cracks open an eye and sees the ceiling of the common area. When he turns his head, he notices Steve sitting in the chair across from him wearing a worried expression. "What happened?"  
  
"You fainted."  
  
"I fainted? Are you sure?"  
  
Steve's mouth twitches for the tiniest fraction of a second. "Yes."  
  
"Ugh." Peter sits up and accepts the bottle of water Steve is holding out. "I cannot believe I fainted."  
  
"I can," Steve shrugs. "If I fought someone who turned out to be my clone and found out there were more of them, I might faint too."  
  
"You're the lousiest liar ever," Peter assures him. "You've never fainted a day in your life."  
  
Steve raises an eyebrow.  
  
"Since the serum," Peter amends.  
  
"I passed out from blood loss, gunshot wounds and being beaten half to death by Bucky when I was in DC."  
  
Peter throws up his hands. "See? You even pass out in a manly, heroic way unlike me who has a complete freak out and faints like a girl."  
  
Steve rubs the back of his neck and sighs. "Peter, considering the sum total of things that have happened in your life since that spider bit you, there is absolutely nothing wrong with freaking out and fainting.  Just hearing about some of it makes me feel faint."  
  
"Ooh, *burn*. Jeez." Sipping the water, Peter glances across the room at the large screen television where the evening news headline scrolling across reads 'Massacre at the Mall.' "Massacre? A few cops were injured but..." He trails off when he sees the words '28 confirmed dead' followed by shaky cell phone video of Deadpool trying to hand Lucy to him. "Oh my god. They're blaming me for this?! How can they blame me? I didn't even take Lucy!"  
  
"Lucy?" Steve asks.  
  
"The sexy Glock 19," Peter mutters, shaking his head.  
  
"What?!"  
  
"What?" Peter counters with a defensive shrug. "I didn't name the stupid thing and I don't find it at all attractive, either. That Deadpool guy is a total whacko. The only person I ever met who carried anywhere near that many weapons is Bucky. Oh my God." He stares at Steve. "How many guns and knives are you carrying right now?"  
  
"None."  
  
Peter exhales in relief. "That's good. I was worried it was some kind of super soldier thing I have to grow into." He looks back at the television and frowns when he sees some guy in a suit with the words 'Superhero Registration' over his name. "JARVIS, turn that up."  
  
"...Spider-man. Millions of dollars in property damage, wrongful death, false imprisonment, battery, assault and the list goes on," the man concludes. "Forcing these so-called heroes to register levels the playing field. We know who Captain America is and where to arrest or serve him with lawsuits if he acts outside of the law. Spider-man and these other vigilantes should also be willing to be held responsible for their actions."  
  
The female reporter smiles prettily for the camera. "The leaked SHIELD documents call Spider-man a minor, Professor Hightower."  
  
"Minors can still be charged as adults and can still be found liable in civil lawsuits," Hightower says. "If Spider-man is a child, where are his parents? If his parents aren't able to handle a super-powered minor, that responsibility should fall to the state or the federal government. There are plenty of facilities that can hold and rehabilitate a youngster with those kinds of abilities --"  
  
"JARVIS, turn that off," Steve orders. He reaches over and takes the water bottle from Peter's hand. It's been mangled from being crushed by Peter's fist and there's water all over the carpet. "Peter --"  
  
"My God...that...I mean...they've been calling me a menace for months but that...that's --"  
  
"It's not just because of you," Steve interrupts him. "Since the SHIELD files leaked, especially the ones related to Project Insight, there's been a push to create a registry of people with special abilities."  
  
Peter blinks and then asks quietly, "Do you support that?"  
  
Steve's expression turns fierce. "Son, I enlisted in the Army to stand against people who supported ideas exactly like that one."  
  
There's a smattering of applause as Tony steps off the elevator. "I'm sure Congress will love hearing that when they call you to testify. Right before they hold you in contempt for not revealing the identities of Daredevil and Spider-man."  
  
"This isn't the time, Tony," Steve says, his voice pitched low with a hint of a warning growl that makes the hair on the back of Peter's neck stand up.  
  
Tony shrugs. "The time'll come, boys. Sooner than you think. Anyway, kid, I've got some news about your clone down there. You ready?"  
  
Steve shifts off of the chair and sits next to Peter. His presence is solid and reassuring.  
  
Peter swallows. "I'm ready."  
  
"Let's start with his suit," Tony says. He shifts uncomfortably which makes Peter even more nervous. Usually, Tony loves talking about anything involving science. "The tail is grafted onto his spine. In fact, the entire suit is a biograft. We can't get it off him without destroying his spinal cord and probably killing him."  
  
Without meaning to, Peter leans into Steve and Steve puts his arm around him.  
  
"His DNA is a ninety four point two percent match to yours and his brain, for lack of a better word, is misfiring, probably because of the suit." Tony pauses, inhales, and continues. "Even with your healing factor or close to it or whatever this thing has, the strain on its system is killing it --"  
  
"Him," Peter says hotly.  
  
"Him," Tony repeats. "Banner is working on figuring out how much time he has left."  
  
Steve breathed deeply through his nose. "Any idea where he came from?"  
  
"Like I said, the brain is misfiring. He's got Peter's memories jumbled up in there with whatever else they did to him. The closest we've come to anything relevant is something he calls 'the zoo.' Tony locks stares with Steve. "Maybe it's time for Peter to call it a day and go home, huh, Cap?"  
  
"Yeah," Peter agrees, plucking his mask from the coffee table and walking numbly towards the glass doors leading to the observation deck. "I should totally go home. Like, far, far away from here and my freaky clone with a tail that the crazies at HYDRA made because they get their jollies messing with my DNA when they're not trying to kill me and my friends."  
  
A firm hand on his bicep hauls him back. "Sorry, son, but you're not web-slinging your way home in your condition."  
  
Peter reacts without thinking and gives Steve a face full of webbing, wrenches his arm free and puts distance between himself, the clone and the Tower as fast as he can swing off into the night.  
  
  
  
000000000000000000  
  
  
  
She follows him home.  
  
It doesn't surprise Matt at all. Spider-woman has been following him all day and he wonders if she's guarding him from the other clones. As theories go, it makes the most sense. Why else would she have kept watch over him while he was in the office? If she wanted to attack him, she could have done it while he was sleeping.  
  
He's taking off his tie when he hears her knocking at his bedroom window.  
  
The girl's heart rate increases as he walks over, opens the window and stands aside to let her in. She hesitates and then comes inside, still managing to keep her distance.  
  
"If you're hungry --"  
  
"I'm sorry," she interrupts. "I-I stole from you and that was wrong and I'm sorry, Matt."  
  
Her inflection and tone is exactly like Peter's. It's uncanny and it convinces him that he's right in trusting her motives. "You were hungry," Matt tells her gently. "I think you're hungry now, too. If you don't mind waiting, I can order us something nice and hot from the Thai restaurant."  
  
"I...I think I like Thai," she says, hesitantly.  
  
"Good." He pulls out a pair of sweats and a T-shirt, holding them out to her. "If you'd like to shower and clean up, you can borrow these. I can wash your costume for you, too."  
  
She sniffs. "Do I smell that bad?"  
  
"You don't smell great. You've been sleeping in that warehouse over on Fifty-First Street."  
  
"I-I'm sorry."  
  
"It's okay, Spider-woman."  
  
"Jessica."  
  
"Jessica," Matt repeats and wonders if she chose the name herself or if it was chosen for her. "Well, Jessica, you're welcome to stay here with me."  
  
She tenses and asks suspiciously, "Why?"  
  
"Because you're safe here."  
  
She snorts out a very Peter-like laugh. "Matt, *you're* not safe here."  
  
"Are you keeping me safe, Jessica?"  
  
"Duh."  
  
Matt barks out a laugh of his own. "Well, thank you. Go clean yourself up. There's a fresh toothbrush in the cabinet under the sink and feel free to help yourself to anything else. By the time you're done, dinner will be here."  
  
She finally takes the clothing from him and goes into the bathroom.  
  
Just as he's about to call the restaurant, there's a choked cry. "Jessica? Are you alright?"  
  
"F-fine." The door opens. "I forgot for a minute."  
  
"Forgot what?"  
  
"That I'm not him. That I'm...me. I saw my reflection and I freaked out," Jessica tells him. "Sorry. That doesn't make a lot of sense, does it?"  
  
It does if she's Peter's clone with his memories. "Nothing to be sorry about but if you want to talk about it --"  
  
"No."  
  
"If you want to talk about it," Matt repeats firmly, "I can take you to Father Lantom."  
  
"C-could we?" She sounds so hopeful and then her breath stutters. "No...I can't talk to him. I'm an abomination. A thing that somebody made in a l-lab. Things don't have souls --"  
  
"Jessica --" Matt reaches for her.  
  
She flinches, leaping over him with such speed and agility that he can barely track her movement. "Don't touch me! You don't get to touch me!"  
  
HYDRA, Matt remembers belatedly. HYDRA did unspeakably awful things to James Buchanan Barnes and not just in the name of science. Their disciplinary and training methods were meticulously documented and he's been reading each of those documents carefully. He prefers not to think about what they might have done to this girl. "I won't. That was a mistake, Jessica. I won't touch you, not without your permission. I promise you."  
  
She's trembling so hard that it takes all of his concentration to focus on keeping his own heartbeat calm and steady.  
  
"However you came into this world," Matt says, keeping his voice soft and soothing, "you're here and you have free will. I believe you have a soul and Father Lantom will, too. He'll welcome you."  
  
"Why are you being so nice to me?"  
  
"Because you're Peter, aren't you?"  
  
"They wanted to take it away from me. Give me new memories." Her breath hitches and he can smell the unshed tears. "I-I got away before they could. In the chaos, when Kaine broke out of the Zoo." She sucks in a shaky breath. "It's so confusing, Matt. I'm him, but I'm me too and I can't tell where he ends and I begin."  
  
Matt adopts the most non-threatening pose he can. "Peter's memories told you that I'm someone who you can come to when you need advice. Do you want my advice?"  
  
"Y-yes."  
  
"First order of business is to get cleaned up and to eat. The next thing I recommend is calling Steve. Not all of the Avengers. Just Steve. Peter trusts him, too, correct?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
He's leading the witness. God knows, he is. "Steve needs to know about Kaine and about...the Zoo, was it?"  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
"I can ask him to bring some proper clothing for you so that we can go to Mass in the morning." He relaxes as he hears her breathing even out. "You have three options. The first is to stay with me, the second is to go with Steve and the third, which I do not recommend, is to stay on the streets where the rest of these clones and HYDRA can find you."  
  
"I-I'd like to stay here. With you. Away from any kind of lab."  
  
"And the rest?" he prompts.  
  
"The rest sounds okay. Just...tell Steve nothing too girly or pink. I don't think I can handle it. Hey, how will he know my sizes?"  
  
Matt sighs. "When my apartment was destroyed last month by the Sandman and Electro, Pepper Potts handled the repairs. She installed JARVIS. Oh, JARVIS? Would you kindly handle the arrangements for me?"  
  
"Of course, Master Murdock."  
  
"He hasn't notified them you're here." He flashes a reassuring smile. "I've broken JARVIS of his more invasive protocols and turned him into a proper ADA-compliant AI butler who transcribes my legal documents as I dictate them, researches case law for me and handles the more mundane tasks, like grocery lists and making sure the bills are paid."  
  
She laughs softly. "How long did it take you to argue him into submission?"  
  
"Four days."  
  
"It only took you forty minutes to do it to me. Guess I'm not as smart as an AI yet," she says and brushes past him on her way into the bathroom.  
  
Thank God.  
  
  
  
0000000000000000  
  
  
Barnes waits for Petey up on the roof, sniper style. He has the perfect vantage point and none of the neighbors can see him. Truth be told, he comes up here quite a bit, even when he's not waiting for the kid to come home. Forest Hills is calm and quiet, no matter what time of day he climbs onto the roof of the Parker house. It's because Forest Hills is calm and quiet that he spots the guy on the roof two blocks away immediately.  
  
The guy spots him too and waves a greeting.  
  
It's not Barton and it's not any of the other Avengers, which begs the question, who the hell is this guy?  
  
He doesn't have a rifle but he does have a very nice HK45 with him, as well as his Ka-bar and other assorted toys. This guy is in for a surprise if he makes move one on Petey.  
  
The guy waves again and points.  
  
Petey is leaping from rooftop to rooftop, staying low, which makes sense since he gave his street clothes to MJ earlier and according to Steve, bolted from the Tower without taking any of his spares with him. Not that Barnes blames the kid one bit, though webbing Steve in the face might have been a little extreme. Then again, Stevie probably had it coming.  
  
The kid lands on a rooftop in a crouch, freezes. He then does something so stupid that Barnes is ready to shoot the kid himself just to teach him to be more careful. Petey stands up, hands on hips and cocks his head to the side as he stares over at the guy on the other roof.  
  
The guy bounces up, waving wildly. "Yoohoo! Spidey! It's me! Your buddy, Deadpool! Wanna go grab a beer?"  
  
"Shhhh!" Peter whispers loudly, flapping his arms.  
  
"Sorry," Deadpool whispers back. "I brought your girl, Lucy, with me."  
  
Barnes' eyebrows shoot up.  
  
"No! No guns!"  
  
Ah. Okay. This Deadpool character is one of those nutballs who names his weapons.  
  
"You know that guy over there?" Deadpool asks, pointing towards Barnes.  
  
Heaving a sigh, Barnes stands up too and goes against almost every bit of training and programming he's ever had. He doesn't wave, however. Instead, he glares.  
  
"Sweet fancy Moses!" Deadpool takes off at a run, bouncing from roof to roof until he's face to face with Barnes and then he drops to his knees in an exaggerated bow. "I am not worthy! I am not worthy!"  
  
No, Barnes decides, he's not and he kicks this red-suited imbecile right off the Parker roof, watching with satisfaction as he breaks a femur landing the wrong way. He dives down after the guy, grabs him by the neck and drags him towards the small park two blocks down. It's after dusk and the park is closed, which should give him plenty of privacy to beat this moron to death.  
  
He can hear Peter following. The kid is a nervous wreck, judging by his rapid-fire breathing. Not that Petey being a nervous wreck is unusual. He's the most high-strung kid Barnes has ever seen, although Barnes doesn't really remember many kids.  
  
Barnes kicks the playground fence open, hauls Deadpool inside and throws him into the monkey bars. Hard. "So, Deadpool, is it --?"  
  
"My friend call me D-Pool," the guy laughs and improbably, stands up despite the broken femur. "Oh, hey, don't look so shocked, Winnie, my healing factor is off the mother effin' charts. This'll be good as new in ten minutes."  
  
"How long will it take you to heal from a bullet in the brain?" Barnes growls.  
  
"Forty minutes."  
  
"Mind if I test that?"  
  
Deadpool holds out both hands in invitation. "Heck no! I'd love to get shot by you. It's been a dream of mine ever since I heard of you."  
  
Barnes makes his dream come true.  
  
Behind him, Petey throws up noisily.  
  
"He sure pukes a lot," Deadpool says, sitting up from where he fell.  
  
"What the fuck --?!" Barnes shoots him again.  
  
Deadpool laughs like being shot in the head is some kind of joke. And it must be, because he's still alive!  
  
He hears Petey shoot the web just as he prepares to fire again. The gun gets yanked out of his hand and the kid is practically vibrating with anger as he gets in Barnes' face.  
  
"This is a residential neighborhood," Petey hisses angrily, gesturing wildly. "Cut it out with the guns and the shooting."  
  
Barnes resists the urge to smack him and snatches the gun back before the kid wrecks it like he's done to the last few he's taken. "What? You wanna have a conversation with this mook?"  
  
"Yes! A *quiet* one," the kid snaps. "Do you two jackasses think you can do that? Because if you can't, I swear I will web the both of you together and leave you for the cops to deal with."  
  
"Aw, don't be like that, Spidey-buddy," Deadpool wheedles. "The cops aren't coming. Winnie used a suppressor."  
  
"Do *not* call me Winnie," Barnes snarls.  
  
"Shut up," Petey snaps. "Both of you." He points at Deadpool. "You. Why are you here?"  
  
Deadpool shrugs. "I think Winnie wanted to make out with me. Why else would he bring me to a park at night?"  
  
"Why. Are. You. In. Queens?" Petey bites out.  
  
"Because you're here, Petey-pie, and those crazy clones and their happy HYDRA handlers are going to come looking for you. I figured we could team up and have some fun. I'll even let you borrow Bea." He pulls the katana from its sheath on his back and holds it out reverently. "Arthur is mine, though."  
  
The kid takes the katana, turns it over in his hand and then bends it into a pretzel before tossing it aside. With an angry growl, he grabs Deadpool by the throat. "I've had a really lousy day, D. You mind if I call you D? No? Good. I've got mad scientists doing crazy science fiction weirdo stuff with my DNA. Some nutball was on TV talking about how I need to be locked up because I'm dangerous. I'm being blamed for the people *you* killed at the mall. The class bully kicked me across campus this morning in front of Captain America. And now...now you come into my neighborhood and start shouting my name from the rooftops and making with the crazy talk. So yeah, maybe I'm taking my crappy day out on you but you know what? Welcome to my life, Deadpool."  
  
And then he slugs Deadpool so hard that the guy's neck snaps.  
  
Barnes' grin makes his cheeks ache.  
  
"I'd feel guilty about that but I just saw you get shot in the head twice and survive." He lifts up his mask, spits on the ground and tugs it back into place. "Screw you guys, I'm going home."  
  
Barnes watches him leave and thinks there might be hope for the kid yet.

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve meets Jessica and it goes as you might expect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took a bit of creative liberty with Kaine's origin. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 6

 

Today has been the longest day of Steve Rogers' life since waking up in the 21st Century. And that's counting the Chitauri invasion. Still, he squares his shoulders, puts his game face on and is about to knock -- unnecessarily -- on Matt's door, when Matt opens it.

"Ground rules," Matt says quietly, all business, blocking Steve's entrance. "No touching unless she says it's okay. Give her space. Don't push. And I know old fashioned manners are your thing but she's gender-confused. Any questions?"

"Yes." Steve pushes past him. "When did you become the mother hen on the team?"

"Since a frightened child came to me for help." Matt tilts his head towards the far corner of the living room. "She's up there. Jessica, Steve is here."

Jessica? Her name is Jessica? He looks up to see a girl who is the spitting image of Peter. She has his facial features, though they're finer and more delicate. Her dark brown hair curls down past her shoulders. What he notices the most isn't that she's pretty, though she is, it's that she's having one of Peter's panic attacks.

"Come on, Jessica," Matt cajoles. "This is Steve. He's your friend and you trust him."

"He's looking at me!"

"Unlike me, Steve is not blind. He's going to look at you because it's polite to look at the person you're speaking with."

"Dude, he's gawking like he's never see a girl before," Jessica huffs indignantly. "Unless I'm hideous. Am I hideous, Steve? I am. I'm some kind of hideous freak!"

Steve sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. She's Peter all right. "You're not hideous."

"Am I..." She swallows nervously. "Am I pretty?"

Why him? Why? "Yes, Peter -- uh, Jessica."

Jessica groans loudly. "You called me Peter! Oh my God! This is the worst day ever!"

"You have no idea," Steve mutters, earning him an elbow to the ribs from Matt.

She launches herself from her spot in the corner, flips and lands in front of him, peering up at him with Peter's eyes through thick eyelashes. "Jeez, you're a lot bigger than I remembered. Than Peter...than.. Whatever. Wow, this is, like, the most awkward thing ever. It is, right, Steve?"

"Hard to say," Steve tells her. "The day's not over yet."

The smile is definitely Peter's. "I seriously hope this is as weird as it gets."

"Me too," Steve agrees. He remembers the bag in his hand and holds it out. "I'm sorry it took me so long to get here. Matt said you, uh, needed clothing and I --"

"Got Pepper to help you?" Matt asks. He makes a show of sniffing the air. "I can smell traces of her Clive Christian perfume." Tilting his head towards Jessica, he adds, "Be glad. Steve would have either have brought you a flapper dress or a nun's habit."

Steve shoots him an annoyed look that he knows Matt can't see but can probably sense as Jessica takes the bag.

She reaches in and pulls out a large book, starts to flip through it and turns a bright shade of red and hastily shoves it back in the bag. "Ohmigod. What the --? Why would she --?"

"JARVIS? Play by play?" Matt instructs.

"Ms. Potts sent a copy of 'Our Bodies, Ourselves' to Miss Jessica. The book is a comprehensive guide to all aspects of women's health and sexuality --"

"Thank you, JARVIS." Matt clears his throat. "Well, that's..."

"I know, right?" Jessica agrees.

Steve has to look up at the ceiling until he's sure he's not blushing anymore.

Jessica's nose wrinkles as she looks at Steve. "Do I want to know what else is in here?"

"She mentioned there were, uh, underthings, so maybe you should do that in private," Steve suggests.

"You mean like a..."

He nods.

"Oh my God. I'm a girl. I'm supposed to wear those and..." Jessica shudders and looks down at herself. "Gee, I haven't thought much about all that. On myself, I mean. I've thought about Mary Jane in those and... No. Wait. Peter thinks about Mary Jane. Am I gay if I think Mary Jane in her underwear is really --?"

"If you are, that's perfectly fine," Matt assures her. He's surprisingly good at deftly managing her mood shifts and questions. "Don't put pressure on yourself about it."

Steve, on the other hand, is barely coping. Not that sexual mores of this century bother him, necessarily, but the specifics of this conversation, as in female undergarments and breasts, are far beyond his abilities to handle. He nearly jumps out of his skin when Jessica comes up to him, stands on tiptoe, balances herself against his chest with her palms and looks into his eyes, studying him like he's a scientific specimen.

"Nope," she concludes. "I don't find you attractive at all and you're supposed to be the sexiest man alive according every magazine ever."

He coughs. "Uh...um..."

"How about me?" Matt asks with a grin, obviously enjoying Steve's discomfort.

"Dude, you're like my brother or something."

Matt throws his head back and laughs.

"Actually, you've got a very sexy laugh, Matt," she says.

He freezes.

"Psych!" Jessica snorts with laughter and then stops, eyes wide. "Oh my gosh. I think that was my first ever joke as myself. Wow. Oh wow." She stops, looks down at her hands and then seems to shrink in on herself. "Oh...I need a minute. Can I have a minute?"

Matt's voice is soothing as he says, "Take as many as you need. Would you like to go into the bedroom and have a few minutes to yourself?"

She nods and goes in, shutting the door behind her.

Matt folds his arms across his chest, in full-on protective papa bear mode. "You can see why I'm going to say no if you tell me you want to take her to the Tower with you."

"No, she should stay here," Steve agrees. Matt reminds him of Bucky, with his ability to roll with a situation and be the rock everyone leans on. Or at least, the way Bucky was, once upon a time. Before HYDRA. "I might ask Sam to visit --"

"Let's try not to overwhelm her with visitors unless she wants them."

Jessica pokes her head out of the bedroom. "Who's Sam?"

"A friend," Steve tells her, sitting down on Matt's sofa. He pats the cushion next to him, beckoning her closer while he ponders the gap in her memory.

She takes a hesitant step towards him.

He thinks back to his first meeting with Peter and how skittish the boy was. Little things counted when it came to building trust, like picnics on rooftops. Steve lifts himself from the sofa and sits on the floor, making the conversation less formal.

Jessica settles a safe distance away, drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. The defensive posture speaks volumes about her comfort level, regardless of how many jokes she's been cracking.

Matt sinks down within arm's reach of her. "Are you ready to tell us about the Zoo? It's okay if you're not, but it would be helpful if you can."

"I was born about a month ago," she begins, her voice shaking slightly. "I think. I remember doctors and being told that my body was still forming. They told me that even though I remembered I was him -- Peter -- I wasn't. The best one so far, they called me. Their biggest success."

Head canted towards her, Matt's hand is outstretched for her to take or not take as she chooses.

Steve scoots closer and mirrors Matt's pose.

Jessica reaches out, grazes Steve's hand with her fingertips and then pulls back. She takes a deep, shuddering breath. "This one doctor said they were going to bring in a psych team and they were going to wipe my memories and give me new ones. H-he said the name they picked for me was Jessica Drew. That I was the next Captain America. O-only I belonged to HYDRA."

"Jessica," Matt says in a voice that Steve is certain has comforted distraught clients, "we can stop for a moment if you need to take a break."

"Oh, Matt..." She sniffles and buries her face against his shoulder, pulling away a moment later and scrubs at her eyes. "Jeez, I must be a girl. I just cried all over you. Sorry."

"If it felt right for you to do it, then it's fine."

"I don't know what feels right or not. I've been alive, like, for a month." She suddenly looks horrified. "A month. I'm a girl. Oh no. No! That's so unfair!" In a very Peter-like gesture, she buries her face in her hand. "I'm so not prepared to deal with that weird monthly girl stuff!"

Steve clears his throat, then ducks his head, mumbling, "Pepper offered to help you with, uh, feminine things."

"See? You can't even say that with a straight face!" Jessica groans loudly. "Tony would have a field day with this. I can just hear him making hormonal girl jokes." She turns to Matt. "Am I hormonal? Am I having some kind of hormonal freak out? You can tell, right?"

Matt flushes bright pink and then breathes deeply a few times until he's calm again. It isn't nice but Steve is glad to see even Matt finds a little of this difficult. "I can. Do you really want to know?"

"Dude, you just told me! I'm PMSing!"

"Ovulating."

"Oh my god! Yuck!!!" She shudders again. "Well, at least I don't have to worry about getting pregnant if I don't like boys."

Steve stares up at the ceiling again. It's a nice ceiling, reproduction tin tiles or maybe it's a recovered vintage tin ceiling. Either way, it's very tasteful.

"What color is my ceiling, Steve?"

"It's tin." Not that Matt doesn't know because he can smell the tin. It's a strange question and then Steve cottons on to what Matt is doing. He wonders if Matt's doing it for Jessica's benefit or Steve's. Probably both.

"Textured. Of course." Matt smiles at the idea. "Pepper put a lot of thought into the textures in this apartment when she rebuilt it for me."

"Everything seems very soft and soothing."

"I have no idea what that painting on the wall looks like but it's textured art that was made for the visually impaired. You're the artist, Steve. What do you think?"

He glances over at the painting. "It's muted blues and greens, abstract. Not my cup of tea but nice."

"Like a calm sea," Jessica says. She stares up at the ceiling. "Wow, that is a nice ceiling. I can carry you up there if you want to check it out, Matt. No. Wait. That'd be weird, right? Me carrying you on my back?"

"We can do it another time."

Steve knows he's lying.

"So...uh..." She scoots closer to Matt and leans against him. "They made me put on that costume --"

"It's drying in the bathroom," Matt explains for Steve's benefit. "I assume it's some type of spider-themed thing."

"Yeah, it is. Red and white. Commander Rumlow liked it a lot." Jessica sits up straight, her gaze ticking from Matt to Steve and back again as she catches their reactions. "Do you guys know him?"

Steve nods, not trusting himself to speak.

"Yeah, he was kind of..." She shudders and looks down at the floor. "He was my... um... handler."

Matt's mouth is a thin line. "I thought he was in custody, Steven. Hill assured us --"

"No," Steve says tightly, sharing the classified information and not giving a damn. "Rumlow and Octavius escaped. Turns out there were HYDRA agents on the supposedly trustworthy SHIELD team."

Jessica groans loudly. "Seriously? Why don't they just put a revolving door in the Triskelion?"

"We're dealing with it," Steve says. Best to leave the state of the Triskelion for another time, he decides.

The look that she shoots him is skeptical. "Anyway, about four days ago, Commander Rumlow took me to get my memories wiped and that's when Kaine escaped. He went crazy, tearing the place apart and --"

"Jessica, who's Kaine?"

"He's another clone. They did something that made him...dangerous." Jessica bites her lip then frowns at him. "Commander Rumlow said he was another special snowflake and they all laughed like it was funny, especially that Rollins guy. I don't think he thought it was funny when Kaine started killing all the doctors." She swallows and looks down at the floor again. "Maybe I should have helped them, but I-I ran away and that's when I saw the others coming out of their cells. There were five of us clones, including Kaine. Every one of us was different. Th-that was Phase Three. Altering us."

Phase Three. Steve wants to smash something. Preferably Rumlow's skull. He keeps his voice pitched low. "One with four arms, the Scorpion, Kaine, you and who else?"

"The furry one." Her chin rises. "Wait. You know about the Scorpion? Is he okay?"

"We have him," is the most neutral answer Steve can think of and he knows Matt will want details later. "What happened after you five got out?"

Jessica takes a deep shaky breath. "W-we argued and then we freaked out and took off in different directions."

Matt isn't the only one who knows how to question someone. Steve had to sit in on sessions with members of the 107th and more soldiers and agents since then, trying to get intel from shocked service personnel. "I'm going to ask a series of questions, Jessica, so that we can try to pinpoint where you came from. Are you ready?"

She looks at Matt.

"Steven doesn't know how to lead a witness," Matt tells her. "He's going to be ham-fisted about it and you're going to feel like he's interrogating you. It's not personal, that's just military training versus legal training. I'm right here and I'll stop him if he does anything that makes you uncomfortable."

Ham-fisted? Steve suppresses a smile at knowing there's one more detail of his life that the historians haven't picked to death. "Was the building mostly above ground or below?"

"Below."

"Can you remember how many levels you had to go through before you were above ground?"

"Six."

"Was it a big building, like an office tower, or a small one, like in an office park?"

"Small." Her head tilts in an unconscious mirror of Matt's. "There were four more buildings nearby."

"Good," Steve praises her. "You were outside the city in an office park. Think about your surroundings. Were you near a main road? If not, how long did it take you to find one on foot?"

Jessica raises her hand, brings her fingers together and shoots a web at the front of his shirt. "I didn't walk."

Steve looks down at the web, then at her hand. He forces a neutral expression that he doesn't really feel about how they've tampered with her body. "Point taken."

"I stuck to the trees until I saw the...Thruway? Then I hitched a ride."

"Hitched?" Matt echoes.

She rolls her eyes at him. "On top of the truck, not inside it with a creepy trucker guy. Give me a little credit. I mean, look how I was dressed. Sheesh."

"Do you remember any exit signs or how long it took you to get to the city?" Steve asks.

"I was too freaked out," she says, shaking her head.

"If I may," JARVIS interjects. "I have searched Thruway surveillance and toll booth records --"

"You and I will discuss for the third time how inappropriate it is to research information about my visitors without being requested to do so," Matt scolds the AI. "Send the records to Captain Rogers and then analyze the collected works of Justin Bieber for the next sixty minutes as your punishment."

Steve raises an eyebrow. "You discipline JARVIS?"

"Stark lets him run wild." Matt is smirking slightly. "JARVIS, what related data should you research for me?"

"Shall I attempt to locate the building from which Miss Jessica and the other clones escaped, sir?"

"Yes. What else?"

"Routes taken by the other clones, sir."

"Very good, JARVIS. Please take care of it."

Steve can't help smiling. "I don't think that was what Pepper had in mind when she gave you an AI."

Jessica yawns loudly. "Oops. Sorry."

"You've every right to be tired," Steve assures her. "but I'm going to ask you to be strong for a little longer and tell me as much as you can about this Kaine."

"Okay." She settles against Matt again, resting her head against his shoulder. Steve wonders if she's even aware that she's seeking comfort in a way that Peter never would. "We only trained together a few times and there were always a lot of guards."

Steve knows those training sessions couldn't have been as benign as she's implying, not with the way she's gripping Matt's hand. "You said before that each of you was different. How was Kaine different?"

"He didn't look as much like Peter. Like h-he was Peter, but he was made from somebody else, too. Scientifically, that's possible --"

"Yes," Steve agrees quickly. "We can talk about the science another time. Was Kaine bigger? Stronger?"

"Yes. Faster. Also older."

"Older how?"

"In his twenties, I think." Jessica looks thoughtful. "He was better trained, like he knew a hundred ways to kill you with his pinky but...it was like he wasn't all there, either. Rollins would lead him in, they'd give the order for us to start and I spent most of my time trying to stay out of his way."

"Did Rumlow or Rollins ever call him something other than a special snowflake?" Steve can barely say it without growling. "Maybe use the word 'winter' or 'asset' once or twice?"

She nods and he can tell his reaction is upsetting her.

Still he needs to know. "Did --?"

"You've answered enough questions for one night, Jessica," Matt says, firmly, standing up and putting a stop to Steve's line of questioning. "It's late and we have Mass in the morning. Say good night to Steve."

"But --" she protests.

"Say good night."

She narrows her eyes at him but gets up. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," he says firmly. "Off to bed with you."

It takes everything Steve has to hide the smile at Matt's heretofore unknown parenting skills as he gets to his feet. "Good night, Jessica."

"Steve? Can I be an Avenger?" She blinks up at him, all wide-eyed innocence that he doesn't buy for a moment. "You could use another girl on the team."

As ideas go, it's not the worst, since it means being able to watch over her. "Let's table that question for another month or so, okay? And see what your fath - uh, Matt thinks."

"Why should what Matt thinks have anything to do with it?" Her nose wrinkles. "And did you almost call him my father? You're so weird, Steve!"

Matt exhales loudly. "Thank you for opening that can of worms, Steven."

"Sorry," Steve shrugs. "You're acting like her father."

"Okay, I have seriously had way too much of you two goofballs for one night," Jessica declares. She sounds exactly like Peter. "Good night."

They watch her go into Matt's bedroom and shut the door.

Matt points to the roof and Steve obediently follows him. "Well?"

"Well," Steve says, deliberately missing the point. "Are you planning on fostering or straight out adoption?"

"Have you forgotten about Aunt May?"

"I think she's avoided Aunt May for a reason. She wants her own life." And, because he can't handle the tension for another second, he adds, "As a Murdock."

Matt doesn't take the bait. "She may not. At sixteen, she can legally become emancipated --"

"Whoa." Steve holds up his hands. "Clearly you given this a lot of thought and I can appreciate that but I'm not up for a legal discussion. Frankly, I'm still hung up on HYDRA combining Bucky's DNA with Peter's. I know Bruce and Tony can wax poetic about the science behind it but --"

"But they took our friends and made Frankenstein," Matt concludes. "Clint colorfully calls this 'super soldier serum shit' and I'm starting to think he's right."

"It seemed a lot simpler in 1945," Steve murmurs. His head is spinning. God, this day...

Matt snorts. "*You* were a lot simpler in 1945, Rogers. A skinny kid with big ideals who thought he was going to end war forever. You had no idea what the world was about." His head tilts slightly. "Steve? Are you feeling well? Your stomach is making the strangest noise --"

Steve throws up for the first time since 1945.

He sincerely hopes the rest of Peter's habits don't rub off.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deadpool cocks his head and shrugs. "I staked out your school and you never showed up. All that puking must've finally caught up with you. Unless you're the first bulimic superhero. Are you? Because that'd be kind of cool."

Chapter 7  
  
  
  
Peter doesn't need to open his eyes to know that Bucky is on the floor of his bedroom. Nope. He can hear Bucky's breathing, slow and steady. The man is wide awake and he's probably listening to Peter's breathing. He doesn't say a word and neither does Peter. In fact, Peter refuses to say a word to him. He's giving Bucky the silent treatment.  
  
Unfortunately, giving the silent treatment to a highly trained assassin is pointless. It's even more pointless giving the silent treatment to a highly trained assassin who just happens to be the Winter Soldier. Peter is loathe to admit that the silent treatment is having the same effect as pouting, which is to say that it does nothing except make him look like an idiot.  
  
Starting his day looking like an idiot is par for the course. He cracks open an eye, peers at the clock and flies out of bed in a blind panic. It's after 9am, which means he's missed first period, homeroom and most of second period. Peter is fumbling in the dresser, pulling out clothes when Bucky's hand clamps down on his shoulder.  
  
"No school today. Aunt May said you needed rest."  
  
"What?"  
  
"She said --"  
  
"I heard you," Peter interrupts. "And again I say what? Why would she say that?"  
  
Bucky's grip on Peter's shoulder tightens and, with absolutely no effort whatsoever, he shoves Peter back to sit on the edge of the bed. "She said it because she and I had a long talk last night about why you skipped supper. Speaking of which, I'm supposed to make sure you eat today."  
  
Peter gapes at Bucky. "W-what do you mean you had a long talk? What did you tell her?"  
  
"Everything."  
  
"Everything?" Peter squeaks.  
  
Bucky nods. "Everything."  
  
Peter gapes at him. "Why? Why would you do that?"  
  
"Because," Bucky says slowly, his head cocked to one side as he stares Peter down, "there are clones with your face and your memories running around loose, you dumb punk. You think it's a good idea for her to find out about 'em when one of 'em comes walking in the front door like he lives here?"  
  
Peter buries his face in his hand. Stupid. So stupid not to even think of that. "I didn't think --"  
  
"That's because you're young and you're stupid."  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"Stating facts," Bucky shrugs, the plates in his metal arm whirring softly. "I was young and stupid once, too. So was Stevie --" Anything else he's about to say is forgotten as he tenses, pulls a pistol out from under his shirt, flattens himself against the wall and glances sideways out the window.  
  
The doorbell rings.  
  
Peter looks at Bucky, whose lips are curled into a look of pure disgust.  
  
"Deadpool," Bucky says.  
  
"Here? At my house?" Peter's voice goes so high that it cracks. "Why is he at my house? Where my neighbors can see him? In broad daylight?"  
  
"Whyn't you go ask him, punk?"  
  
Peter nods, numb with shock. "Yeah. Why don't I go ask him?"  
  
The doorbell rings again.  
  
Peter charges out of the bedroom and leaps down the stairs, Bucky at his heels. He pauses at the door, sucks in a deep breath and opens it.  
  
"Visiting Nurse Service," Deadpool sing songs. He's wearing an old-fashioned nurse's cap on top of his masked head and he's carrying a shopping bag along with a giant 'Get Well' balloon. "Hi, buddy. I heard you weren't feeling well so I came to cheer you up." He waves a greeting at Bucky and edges past a stunned Peter. "I brought you chicken soup and some sick day goodies."  
  
"I...I..." Peter looks helplessly at Bucky, who has his pistol pointed at Deadpool and has a look on his face that could freeze lava.  
  
Deadpool hands Peter the balloon and a blue teddy bear with a foam thermometer sticking out of its mouth. "How cute is that, huh?"  
  
"Um, thanks?"  
  
"I brought checkers, too. Who doesn't like playing checkers, huh, Petey?"  
  
"H-how did you know I didn't...?"  
  
Deadpool cocks his head and shrugs. "I staked out your school and you never showed up. All that puking must've finally caught up with you. Unless you're the first bulimic superhero. Are you? Because that'd be kind of cool."  
  
Peter finally recovers his wits. "Dude, this is my *house* --"  
  
"It's nice, in a shabby chic, kind of way," Deadpool tells him.  
  
"You cannot be in my house," Peter protests. "My neighbors --"  
  
Deadpool makes a dismissive noise. "Never mind the neighbors, Ferris. Let's talk about what I've got planned for your day off."  
  
Peter glances over at Bucky who looks like he's about to test the limits of Deadpool's healing factor in Aunt May's living room. He needs to get Deadpool out of the house.  
  
"First, I thought we'd visit the HYDRA R&D facility where they've been cooking up your clones and --"  
  
"You know where that is?"  
  
"Petey-pie, are we not besties?"  
  
"Are we?" Peter squeaks. "Um, I kind of bent your sword and broke your neck last night --"  
  
"Pfffft. Bygones!" Deadpool slings an arm around him. "We are best buds and I know, Petey, I do, that Winnie is feeling left out but he doesn't have to be. We could be exactly like the Three Musketeers, only with way better guns. What do you say, Winnie? Wanna be Musketeers?"  
  
Bucky response is a ferocious growl that makes Peter nearly wet his pants.  
  
"Yes," Peter answers for Bucky. "Musketeers. Absolutely." He's got the most half-assed plan ever but if it gets Deadpool out of the house without blood being spilled, he'll consider it a success. "Look, D... uh, I can still call you D right --?"  
  
"You sure can," Deadpool says, giving Peter an affectionate squeeze.  
  
"Okay, well, D..." Peter casts a warning glance at Bucky, whose gun is leveled at Deadpool's head. "My aunt is very strict and she doesn't like it when I do superhero stuff in the house. You get that, right?"  
  
"Absolutely, lil buddy! Superheroing is messy business --"  
  
"Exactly. That's why I do all my superheroing at the Avengers Tower with all my superhero buddies, like Captain America." No. Do not look at Bucky, he tells himself. If he looks at Bucky, he will never pull this off. "We should meet there. I bet Cap'd love you and ask you to join the team."  
  
Deadpool claps a hand to his heart. "He's been my hero since I was a kid. I wanted to be just like him when I grew up."  
  
"Well look at you now! You're all grown up and a super soldier just like he is." Steve is going to kill him for this, if Bucky doesn't do it first. "How cool are you, D? So what do you say? Meet us at the Tower in two hours?"  
  
"Why so long?" Deadpool asks.  
  
"Have you ever taken the subway from Queens to Manhattan off peak?"  
  
"Good point." The lunatic claps him on the back and skips out the door. "See you later, buddy boy!"

Peter slams the door shut and thunks his forehead against it. Twice. "Whew. That was so close."  
  
"Kid," Bucky says, "You've just taken young and stupid to a whole new level."  
  
"Look, Athos, I got him out of here without anybody being shot or stabbed," Peter holds up a finger, ticking off each point he makes. "I got *us* out of following him into the HYDRA thingie without backup. And, I sent him to the Tower where it's us, Steve and whoever else is around to deal with his nutty nut self. So who's young and stupid now?"  
  
"Fine, but you're the one who's gonna call Steve and explain it to him."  
  
"In a minute," Peter says. "First I'm going to take a few minutes to have a full-on freak out and then I'm going to throw up."  
  
  
  
000000000000000000000000  
  
  
  
"Stop fidgeting."  
  
"It's uncomfortable," Jessica complains. "How do women wear these things? And what exactly is the underwire supporting --?"  
  
"Jessica," Matt scolds. "We're in church."  
  
"These clothes are weird, Matt."  
  
"So you've been saying." However, that's not what some of the young men have been saying. He's overheard more than a few remarks about Jessica that made him want to leap over the pews and beat some respect into them. He smiles as Father Lantom approaches.  
  
"Good morning, Matthew. I see you've brought another young friend for me to meet." He extends a hand. "Hello, my dear, I'm Father Lantom."  
  
Jessica tenses beside Matt and recoils from the outstretched hand.  
  
"She's shy," Matt says quickly. "I wondered if you might have time for a latte."  
  
"Always, Matthew." The kind priest leads them to his office and starts fiddling with the machine. He doesn't ask any of the obvious questions. "So, Jessica, what did you think of the service?"  
  
"I-I'm not sure." She breathes nervously and then quotes, "'Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.' How do you understand?"  
  
"It isn't always clear," Lantom explains, "which is why we have faith in Him to reveal His will to us over time." He turns towards Matt. "Am I correct in assuming that this young woman is one of your special friends, Matthew?"  
  
"Jessica? What do you want to do?" Matt asks.  
  
"Can you tell him for me?"  
  
Matt takes a deep breath. "What do you know about cloning, Father?"  
  
Other than a surprised inhalation of breath, Lantom's calm demeanor doesn't waiver once as Matt explains about Jessica's origins. He sits quietly, sipping his latte, and listens until Matt is finished. "You must have so many questions, child," Lantom says, at last.  
  
"Y-yes."  
  
"I'd like to offer you something that may help you on your path to establish your identity." The priest leans forward. "We perform baptisms on infants to, among other things, make you a child of God and to recognize you as a new person. You're not an infant but you are a new life and by becoming a child of God, you'll always have family. This will be the case whether or not you choose to become an active member of the Church, though I hope you'd consider that as well."  
  
Jessica's hand closes over Matt's.  
  
"We can do it as soon as today, if you don't mind a ceremony that isn't necessarily in line with the Church's practices," Lantom offers. "Matthew, will you stand as her godparent?"  
  
He nods, unable to speak. This was the last thing he expected to happen today but it makes sense and he can't help feeling affection for this priest who knows exactly the right thing to do when confronted with the fantastic.  
  
"I'll provide you with a baptismal certificate," Lantom goes on. "You'll be able to use it to obtain other forms of identification, even without a birth certificate and if my pen should slip when I write the date, well, even priests make mistakes."  
  
"Thank you, Father," Matt manages at last. "Jessica? Is this something you want?"  
  
"Yes. Oh, please, yes."  
  
Lantom opens a desk drawer. "What name shall I put on the certificate?"  
  
Matt answers without hesitation. "Murdock. Jessica Drew Murdock."  
  
   
  
0000000000000000  
  
   
  
"You told him he could be an Avenger?" Clint growls. "Why would you do that?"  
  
The kid and Barnes answer at the same time.  
  
"Because he was in my house."  
  
"Because he's an idiot."  
  
Steve doesn't say anything, just stares up at the conference room ceiling. It's a nice ceiling, Clint thinks. Tasteful. Pepper probably picked it out.  
  
Peter blows out an exasperated breath. "Exactly what did I do wrong now? Bucky shot him in the head -- twice! And the guy laughed it off. Shooting him in my aunt's house wasn't going to accomplish anything other than wrecking the place and making more bills that we can't afford to pay."  
  
"And that," Clint tells him, "was smart thinking. Telling him Steve would like him? That was stupid. Nobody likes Deadpool."  
  
"He's not that bad."  
  
Clint clenches his teeth, looks over at Barnes and sees that Barnes is doing the same. "He's a nut!"  
  
"He seems kinda lonely," the kid says, defensively.  
  
"That's because he's nuts!" Clint explodes.  
  
"That's not his fault," Peter shoots back. "Those Weapon X people made him like that."  
  
Clint gets in the kid's face. "He's a nut and he's dangerous. Or did you forget about all the dead people at the mall you're being blamed for killing because of him?"  
  
"Enough," Steve says quietly. "It's done. Deadpool is on his way. I'll handle it from here. Peter, I'd like you to go to your room --"  
  
"Oh my God," the kid moans. "You're sending me to my room?"  
  
Steve shoots the kid a dark look and Clint silently cheers. "Yes. This Deadpool character is violent and unpredictable --"  
  
"He likes Petey," Barnes cuts him off. "Let him stay."  
  
"Bucky," Steve begins.  
  
"None of us," Barnes says slowly, "woulda been able to talk Deadpool into leaving Petey's house. None of us woulda thought of it."  
  
"That's because we're all trained professionals," Clint argues.  
  
"And so is Deadpool," Barnes counters. "He needs a handler and Petey's on whatever weird wavelength Deadpool's on. The rest of us are just gonna lose it and start shooting. We do that, we lose the opportunity to get whatever intel Deadpool has. In fact, I say let Petey lead the questioning."  
  
The kid goes pale. "What?"  
  
Steve nods. "We'll help of course, Peter, but he likes you and he responds to you --"  
  
"B-but he's a Captain America and Winter Soldier fanboy," Peter protests. "You guys can handle him and question him and --"  
  
"They're too iconic," Clint interrupts, imparting a little SHIELD-ingrained wisdom. "The art of being a good handler is being able to relate to your subject on a personal level. You, Parker, relate to Deadpool for whatever reason. Suck it up and deal."  
  
"You're his bestie," Barnes puts in and damn if Clint isn't loving the guy's sense of humor.  
  
"But you're the third Musketeer," Parker counters. "Just because you have lousy people skills after seven decades of mind control is no reason why you can't be buddies with him, too."  
  
"Well now we know who Parker's handler's gonna be," Clint points out.  
  
Steve just looks up at the ceiling.  



	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I've never intentionally wrecked a place before."
> 
> "You're in for a treat, Spidey buddy," Deadpool assures him. "I love blowing places sky high! Can we let him detonate the bombs, Cap? I know he's underage but it'd be a real treat for him!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A special shout out to Lypten who used "Dad-Devil" in a comment. XOXO

Chapter 8  
  
  
  
  
  
"Spidey-boy! This place is the bomb! And trust me, do I know about bombs!" Deadpool makes a show of looking around the Tower's common area and then high-fives Peter. Per JARVIS' scan, Deadpool is carrying no fewer than nine guns and a dozen knives, a pair of katanas, two garrotes and brass knuckles. Steve studies the skintight red and black costume and has no idea where all of those weapons are hidden.  
  
Bucky merely shrugs and whispers. "Except for the katanas and the knucks, we're about even."  
  
Steve tells himself he doesn't want to know. It's better that way.  
  
"I brought you a present, Petey-pie," Deadpool is rambling. He hands Peter a small box, wrapped in shiny blue foil with red ribbon. "Go ahead, open open open, lil buddy!"  
  
Peter opens the box and Steve sees the boy's body go rigid. He plucks a Ruger out of the box, holding it between thumb and forefinger like it's a dead rat instead of a handgun. "Wow... that's...uh...nice?"  
  
"That, my webby friend, is an SR 45. Check out that delicious new gun smell," Deadpool tells him proudly. "Thought you'd like something classy to bring on our road trip to blow the ever-loving crap out of HYDRA."  
  
"Wow," Peter repeats dully. His mask barely hides his reaction but now Steve understands why the boy opted to wear his mask for his meeting with Deadpool. The boy heaves a sigh that makes his entire body slump in abject misery. "This is so thoughtful of you, D, but I'm grounded."  
  
"Grounded?" Deadpool echoes.  
  
"Grounded," Peter repeats with an earnestness that catches Steve by surprise because he knows what a horrible liar Peter is. "I sassed Captain America and he took away all my guns for a month."  
  
"A whole month? Just for sassing him? What'd you say to him?"  
  
Peter shakes his head. "I can't repeat it."  
  
"C'mon, whisper it in my ear."  
  
"Dude, we all have enhanced hearing and if I say it again, Cap'll wash my mouth out with soap." He takes the box with the gun and hands it to Steve. "I know, I know. You want this one, too."  
  
Steve takes the box and exchanges looks with Bucky over Peter's shoulder. Bucky was right. Not only is Peter is adept at handling Deadpool but Steve thinks he knows exactly where Peter is going with this little performance. "You'll get it back when you can behave like a civilized superhero. Now say thank you to Deadpool for his thoughtful gift. Manners are important, son."  
  
"Yes, sir, Captain, sir." Peter starts to salute, thinks better of it and turns to Deadpool, reciting obediently, "Thank you, Deadpool."  
  
"Wow, I had no idea Captain America was such a hardass," Deadpool comments.  
  
"Dude, language! You don't want Cap taking *your* guns, do you?" Peter stage whispers.  
  
Steve has to bite back a smile as he admires Peter's strategy. He's just given Steve the ability to confiscate Deadpool's weapons. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Bucky give an approving nod.  
  
"Does he do that a lot?"  
  
"Black Widow flipped him off and she was restricted to using a slingshot for a week."  
  
"Wow." Deadpool cocks his head at Steve, looking him up and down.  
  
Peter grabs his arm and pulls him back a few steps. "Don't stare at him. He hates that."  
  
"Got it, buddy." Deadpool takes a gloved hand and crosses his heart. "No sassing, no swearing, no staring, mind my manners. I had no idea there were so many rules to being an Avenger."  
  
Peter snorts. "Those are only some of them. Captain America's even tougher than Vice Principal Fisher at my school."  
  
Deadpool glances over at Steve and then quickly looks back at Peter.  
  
Bucky smirks.  
  
Now that the fear of God has officially been put into Deadpool, Steve steps forward and gives him a full once-over. He still has no idea where the man is concealing all of those weapons. "Deadpool."  
  
"Yessir." Deadpool snaps to attention with the practiced ease of someone who's had military training.  
  
Steve stares hard at the eyes of Deadpool's mask, doing his best Col. Phillips imitation. "Spider-man tells me you have important information for us."  
  
"Yes, sir, Captain America, sir," Deadpool says enthusiastically. "I know where HYDRA's super secret superhero Xerox machine is."  
  
"And?"  
  
"It's in... can we get a drumroll please... Ooh, yes. That was a nice drumroll, Ringo." Deadpool gives a thumbs up to an empty corner of the room. "Schenectady."  
  
"You're shittin' me," Clint says from the vent where he's been watching the entire proceeding, armed with enough tranquilizers to take down Steve under the assumption they'd be effective on Deadpool.  
  
"Language," Steve scolds him and then adds for the heck of it, "Or I'll take your exploding arrows away."  
  
Deadpool lifts his uniform top and pulls out a blood-stained sheaf of papers with the official HYDRA seal. "Check it out, Cap. Six months' worth of experiments with Spidey boy's blood. They've made enough little Peteys to have their own football team. Well, if some of the copies had legs. Or arms. Or fewer arms and legs. And only one head. You get the point, right?"  
  
Peter starts to sway and Bucky darts forward and grabs his arms, steadying him.  
  
"They were using Winnie bits before that," Deadpool goes on oblivious to Peter's reaction. "But it turns out his copies weren't stable." Sotto voce, he adds, "Go figure, huh?"  
  
Bucky emits an angry growl.  
  
"Easy there, Winnie," Deadpool soothes, giving him a little finger wave. "We're all pals here. Heck, you and Petey are practically married, what with how they smooshed your DNA together and made little deformed WinterSpider kids. I'd call it romantic if man-boy love weren't illegal in all fifty states and the Canadian provinces."  
  
"Th-they what?" Peter asks weakly.  
  
Deadpool cocks his head at Peter. "Used your stuff to stabilize his stuff. It took a few tries but you made a really good lookin' kid together. You should think about hooking up with Winnie for realsies when you're legal because I could totally ship the two of you or the three of you if Captain America gets the stick out of his --"  
  
"Deadpool!" Steve barks. "Enough."  
  
Deadpool salutes him and shuts up, to Steve's immense relief.  
  
Peter and Bucky are staring at each other.  
  
"This wasn't how I planned on telling either of you," Steve says quietly, coming up to them.  
  
"B-but you knew." Peter tugs off his mask and narrows his eyes at Steve. "How did you know?"  
  
"Your sister told me."  
  
"My sister?" Peter's fists go to his hips and his voice rises an octave. "What sister? You mean th-the clone? The girl clone? Why are you calling her my sister, Steve? Do you know where she is? Where is she?!"  
  
Steve forces himself to sound calmer than he feels. "Yes, I know where she is."  
  
"Why do you know where she is? Is she here?"  
  
"She's with Daredevil."  
  
"What? Why? He's my friend, not hers!"  
  
Steve raises an eyebrow at the jealous reaction.  
  
Peter's shoulders sag. "She's not my sister."  
  
"Regardless of what you want to call her, Jessica needed a quiet place to recover from her experience and she found it with Daredevil." It's not quite the whole truth but it's enough.  
  
"Jessica? What kind of a name is Jessica?"  
  
Steve grips Peter's shoulders and puts the steel of command into his voice because he doesn't have time for this bizarre brand of sibling rivalry. "I need you to focus, son. Can you do that?"  
  
Peter nods.  
  
"And you, Buck?"  
  
Bucky's jaw is clenched and his expression as murderous as it was when Bucky was trying to kill him on the helicarrier. He nods tightly.  
  
"The clone with your combined DNA is called Kaine. He and four others escaped from the facility, which is apparently called The Zoo. We have the Scorpion, thanks to Peter and Jessica is with Daredevil. That leaves Kaine, the clone with four arms and another that Jessica referred to as 'furry' on the loose," Steve tells them. "As for what's still in the Schenectady facility, we'll find out when we get there and burn it to the ground. Am I clear?"  
  
"It's not fur," Peter says quietly. "It's hair. That's how a spider senses air movement. I guess they were trying to amplify my, uh, spidey sense and, uh...gross." He peers up at Steve. "I've never intentionally wrecked a place before."  
  
"You're in for a treat, Spidey buddy," Deadpool assures him. "I love blowing places sky high! Can we let him detonate the bombs, Cap? I know he's underage but it'd be a real treat for him!"  
  
"Yeah," Peter chimes in unexpectedly, his voice shaking with anger. "I want to detonate the bombs."  
  
Steve looks down at him in surprise but relents. The boy deserves this much. "Under my supervision or Bucky's."  
  
"Good." Peter takes a shuddering breath of air and then explodes. "God, I am so freaking tired of people screwing around with...with... I didn't ask for any of this! Why do they keep doing this, Steve? Why?"  
  
"Try being screwed with for seventy years, Petey," Bucky growls. "Seventy goddamn years of being used like a lab monkey when my memories weren't being fucked with and I wasn't being sent off to murder people. Not to mention what they did to me for fun. And that's just what I remember. And now I find out I've got a...is that a kid? My kid? Our kid?"  
  
Peter throws his hands up in the air. "I swear I do not know."  
  
"It's more like half an evil twin," Deadpool tells them cheerily. "And hey, don't look at me. I did ask for it. Those nice people at Weapon X said they could cure my cancer and make a new man out of me. They never told me other people would use pieces of me to make other new men." He pulls off his mask, exposing a horribly scarred, disfigured face. "Hey! I told you not to look! Anyway, I've massacred every single one of those guys and it would be the greatest honor ever to massacre these HYDRA guys too for my best buds, the Winter Soldier and Spidey-boy."  
  
Peter gags but thankfully doesn't throw up because Steve is certain that he would throw up too.  
  
Deadpool tugs his mask back on and pats Peter on the head like a puppy. "Looks like Cap's the only one who won the super soldier lottery. He's got his looks, his sanity and no itty bitty Captain clones running around. Must be nice to be you, Captain America. What's your secret?"  
  
"I was frozen in the Arctic for seventy years."  
  
"And your haircut is amazingly still in style. Who knew you were that forward a thinker?"  
  
Schenectady. The HYDRA facility is in Schenectady. It's right here in New York, not halfway around the world or anywhere that would require him to spend days with Deadpool. One mission. A few hours, tops. He can handle that.  
  
"What'cha looking at up there, Cap?" Deadpool asks. "Oh. Nice ceiling. Cream. Not white."  
  
He can handle that.  
  
Right?  
   
  
  
  
0000000000000000  
  
  
  
"We have company," Matt tells Jessica. They're two blocks from his apartment and though she turned down being taken out for a celebratory lunch because of the crowds, he insisted as stopping at Amy's Bread to pick up sandwiches and pastries. The bakery had been empty except for one lone customer who left just as they arrived. "Natasha's waiting for us upstairs."  
  
Jessica's heart rate picks up, but not from fear. Her reaction is a sexual one, no doubt driven by Peter's memories. Her body temperature rises slightly, a combination of embarrassment and arousal.  
  
Natasha has that effect on Matt, too. Not that he'd admit it to Jessica. He's perfectly willing to admit it to Natasha if the opportunity ever arises.  
  
They find Natasha sprawled languidly across his sofa, with Jessica's costume in her lap. It never ceases to surprise Matt how well the Black Widow controls her heart rate and reactions. If she's at all shocked by Jessica, she's hiding it well. "Where have you two been?"  
  
"Us?" Matt counters. "You've been gone for months."  
  
"I didn't think you'd appreciate a postcard."  
  
God, she has a wicked sense of humor. "I would have but only if you were having a good time and wishing I was there."  
  
"I should have sent one from Serbia then," Natasha drawls. She rises to her feet with her usual fluid grace and turns to Jessica, whose heart is jack-hammering. "You must be Jessica."  
  
Jessica responds in a torrent of what sounds like Russian but is inflected with Peter's rapid-fire and sometimes stuttering delivery.  
  
Natasha doesn't miss a beat and switches languages. There's the slightest increase in her heart rate and Matt is reassured to learn that even the Black Widow can be thrown by something.  
  
They go back and forth a few times while Matt wonders what else HYDRA stuck in the girl's head during her time with them.  
  
"So," Natasha says finally, turning back to Matt. "Do I call you Dad-Devil now?"  
  
Jessica bursts into laughter.  
  
"I couldn't let Steve have all the strays, now could I?" Matt counters.  
  
"Be careful," she shoots back. "If he hears you say that, he'll send Deadpool to you."  
  
"What's a Deadpool?" Jessica asks before Matt can.  
  
"He calls himself the 'merc with a mouth'," Natasha tells her. "Crazy as hell and just as deadly. I've never met him but I've seen his work. Are you sure his name isn't familiar to you?"  
  
"Uh-uh."  
  
There's the faint rustle of paper and Matt smells the ink. Inkjet printer, he notes idly. Color.  
  
"This is what he looks like." Natasha is probing for a reaction and that puts Matt on alert. Steve mentioned other clones but he neglected to mention this Deadpool character.  
  
Jessica's heartbeat remains steady. "That's a freaky costume. What are those things?"  
  
"Katanas. Swords."  
  
"But he's holding....what kind of gun is that?"  
  
"A Beretta ARX 160."  
  
"It's huge."  
  
"Rifles usually are."  
  
"Phallic symbols."  
  
"Yup," Natasha agrees, folding the paper and tucking it away. "Just about every time. The reason I brought up Deadpool is because one of the other clones went after him. Do you know why he might have done that?"  
  
Jessica's pulse starts to race. "Th-they kept us separate."  
  
Matt moves closer to her, ready to step in and take over the line of questioning. Not that he has any doubt that Natasha is as good at questioning people as he is, if not better. After all, according to Tony, she got the God of Lies himself to spill his plan to unleash the Hulk. Then again, Loki's never been questioned by Foggy or Matt.  
  
"I'm sure they did," Natasha says soothingly. "Each of you is different, correct? Tests and training had to be conducted individually."  
  
"You think they stuck some kind of ticking time bomb in my head!"  
  
"You know Russian, dorogaya moya, and Peter Parker does not, except for the handful of words that he's learned from me and from the movies."  
  
"Oh my god," Jessica moans. "Matt, what if I'm supposed to kill you or something? Maybe that's why I'm here. Natasha, you've got to lock me up so I can't hurt Matt or anybody else! Please --"  
  
Natasha interrupts her with a stream of rapid-fire Russian and then switches to English. She pauses and then says, "Those were the most common Russian trigger words and phrases. If they were planning on wiping you completely, I'd say programming you with Russian was just a test to see if it would take."  
  
Jessica exhales in relief and then she panics again. "Wait! So what about this Deadpool guy? How does he fit into all of this?"  
  
"Steve's taking care of it," Natasha tells her.  
  
"Isn't he busy taking care of the other clones?"  
  
"He's Steve."  
  
"Exactly my point!" Jessica throws her hands up in the air, exactly the way Peter does. "How much of my clone crap is Steve supposed to deal with? I need to get out there and --"  
  
"No," Matt cuts her off.  
  
"Yes," Natasha says. "These clones also have Peter's memories. We need Jessica."  
  
"We have Peter for that," Matt points out and it doesn't escape his notice how protective he sounds. Dad-Devil, indeed.  
  
There's the faintest hint of humor in Natasha's voice when she responds, "Peter's with Steve, working on the Deadpool matter with Barnes and Clint. You, Sam, Jessica and I are on clone duty until that's resolved. So, Jessica, tell us, what is Peter's gut telling you to do?"  
  
Jessica doesn't hesitate. "Protect Mary Jane and Aunt May."  
  
  
  
000000000000000000  
  
  
  
"That guy's looking at you."  
  
Mary Jane ignores Liz Allen's umpteenth attempt to get her to notice someone other than Peter and tries to ignore the pang of superstition about visiting two malls in two days. Atlas Park is a totally different mall than Queens Center but she's still freaked out from that guy in the green suit that turned out to be a clone of Peter.  
  
Liz gestures with a French fry. "He's been following us since we came out of Forever 21."  
  
"He's been stalking us and you didn't say anything?" Mary Jane rolls her eyes as she remembers that Liz is also the girl who doesn't know the meaning of privacy settings on her social media accounts.  
  
"Because he's cute."  
  
Mary Jane cuts her eyes to their stalker, who's sitting at a table halfway across the food court. He has dark brown hair, broad shoulders and he looks vaguely familiar. He's blatantly staring at her and there's nothing on the table in front of him. Cute isn't a word she'd use to describe him. Creepy would fit better. "We should go."  
  
"Seriously?"  
  
"I am so serious." She grabs her purse and her school bag, stands up and crashes into the stalker. He's bigger than she thought, with broad, muscular shoulders and he's somewhere in his late teens or early twenties.  
  
He flashes her a lazy grin. "Hiya doll."  
  
Mary Jane's jaw drops. Sam warned her there were clones of Peter running around but he never mentioned a clone that resembled Peter and talked like Bucky. Why would a clone resemble Peter and talk like Bucky? Wait. She studies with Peter. She knows things about biology. But this isn't biology. This, standing in front of her, is a cross between science fiction and a horror movie. "H-hi."  
  
"You ain't finished your fries." He picks one up and munches it, his blue eyes -- Bucky's eyes -- staring down at hers like a predator while he turns on what she guesses is Bucky's old school charm. "Mmmm."  
  
"Hi, I'm Liz." Liz comes up way too close to him and tries to give him a peek down her V-neck. Mary Jane wants to throttle her.  
  
"Kaine," he says, not taking his eyes off of Mary Jane.  
  
As in the opposite of Abel? Biblical and super freaky. He probably knows her name anyway, so there's no harm in saying it. "Mary Jane."  
  
"Kaine and Mary Jane," he purrs. "I bet we could make other pretty rhymes together."  
  
"I've got a b-boyfriend."  
  
"Parker?" And then he starts speaking Russian, low and angry, before he grabs her wrist, pulling her close. Lips brush her ear. "Mine now."  
  
"Like hell." Mary Jane brings up her knee. Hard.  
  
Kaine doubles over.  
  
She takes off, Liz at her heels.  
  
This is what she gets for listening to Liz and going to a mall.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know," Deadpool says, turning to Peter as if he can read his mind, "my strategy is always go in, shoot anything that moves, toss in some good ol' C-4 and call it a day."
> 
> "That's a good way to get yourself killed," Clint snaps at him.
> 
> "It is?" Deadpool claps a hand to his head, feigning shock. "I must be doing something wrong then 'cuz I'm still alive."

Chapter 9  
   
  
  
  
Peter knows he should be excited, at least a little, because this is the first time he's going on a mission that's been meticulously planned by his hero, Captain America. The thing is, nobody ever mentioned how boring planning sessions could be. Steve, Bucky and Clint are huddled together, going over satellite images and property records and Lord only knows what else as they discuss how to overcome force fields and other defenses that Peter has not a single clue about. He's trying to follow along but they are slinging around military and spy terms the way he does scientific ones and he is hopelessly lost.  
  
"You know," Deadpool says, turning to Peter as if he can read his mind, "my strategy is always go in, shoot anything that moves, toss in some good ol' C-4 and call it a day."  
  
"That's a good way to get yourself killed," Clint snaps at him.  
  
"It is?" Deadpool claps a hand to his head, feigning shock. "I must be doing something wrong then 'cuz I'm still alive."  
  
Bucky doesn't say a word. He just glares at Deadpool until the merc slumps in his seat. "Fine," Deadpool sighs, "We'll do it the boring way."  
  
"Where'd you learn all that stuff?" Peter asks Deadpool quietly. "You know, the shooting and the C-4 and whatnot?"  
  
"Beats me. Probably too much violent TV when I was a kid." He cocks his head at Peter. "Don't let these guys fool you with all their fancy 'strategy' talk, Spidey." Deadpool makes sarcastic air quotes to accentuate his point. "All you need is a goal. See, Cap over there is making this way more complicated than it has to be --"  
  
"Am I?" Steve folds his arms across his chest and hits Deadpool with a pissed off look that makes Peter cringe by default. "And how would you get past reinforced doors, force fields and armed guards?"  
  
Deadpool snorts like it's obvious. "I'd teleport." He tilts his head, then looks around the room and catches the poleaxed expressions. "Wait. Are you telling me you've got fancy planes, all kinds of awesome weapons and you don't have a teleporter? Wow, that's just disappointing. I'm seriously reconsidering whether I want to be an Avenger."  
  
"There's no such thing as a teleportation device," Clint scoffs.  
  
"There could be," Peter says, surprising himself. "Nightcrawler can teleport."  
  
Bucky stares at Peter. "Who?"  
  
"One of the X-Men," Peter explains, even as he curses himself for opening his mouth in the first place because now all the dirty looks are directed at him. "He, uh, does this thing where he teleports and there's this really weird smell afterwards."  
  
"Brimstone," Deadpool clarifies, cheerfully oblivious to the looks being cast in his direction. "Tell me that's not an awesome mutant ability."  
  
"I know, right? I mean, physicists are speculating whether it's even possible and here's this guy who was, like, born with the gene that lets him give the finger to everything we think we know about the principles of physics." Aaaaand he just rambled and had a geek-gasm in front of his team-mates. Sighing, Peter slumps deeper in his seat.  
  
"Maybe you should join up with the X-Men," Deadpool suggests. "They've got way cooler powers and code names than these guys."  
  
"I'm not a mutant."  
  
"So? You think they'd care?"  
  
"Um, yeah. That's kind of their thing."  
  
"Pffft. Fake it. Besides," Deadpool leans in and drapes an arm around Peter's shoulders. "Have you seen the babes in that crew?"  
  
"Have you seen the people they have to fight?" Peter counters with a shudder. "I spent two days with them and nearly got killed five times over dealing with one of their lamer enemies. No way. Happy *not* to be a mutant, thank you very much."  
  
"Are you two finished?" Steve asks and he sounds beyond pissed now. "Peter, this planning session is important --"  
  
"Why are you picking on him?" Deadpool interrupts. "You're standing up there making with the spy talk and it's going right over his little webbed head." He stands up and folds his arms across his chest, mirroring Steve's pose. "And speaking of being picked on, I made a perfectly valid suggestion and Birdguy bit my head off."  
  
Clint bristles. "It's Hawkeye and you were talking bullshit."  
  
"Oh yeah?" Deadpool reaches into one of the pouches on his belt and tosses a silver disc onto the table, aiming it so that it lands in front of Steve. The disc is roughly four inches in circumference and doesn't have a single marking. "What do you call that?"  
  
Steve starts to reach for it.  
  
"Don't touch it unless you know what you're doing," Deadpool warns.  
  
Steve freezes.  
  
"Kidding. You can totally touch it. I touch it all the time and I have no idea what I'm doing."  
  
"Where'd you get that?" Peter asks, awed.  
  
Deadpool shrugs. "Took it off a guy. He didn't need it anymore, believe me."  
  
Clint, Steve and Bucky all stare at the ceiling.  
  
  
  
0000000000000000000000  
   
  
Mary Jane loses Liz somewhere back by the California Pizza Kitchen as she races towards the exit and onto 80th Street. She'll apologize later. Besides, Kaine isn't interested in Liz. He wants Mary Jane and he's recovered from being kneed in the nuts faster than should have been possible. The bus stop is just ahead. Her MetroCard is in her pocket so all she needs is a bus, going wherever.  
  
But this is Queens, where bus service sucks and Kaine is right on her heels.  
  
So Mary does the next best thing. She screams for help.  
  
Two strong arms grab her from behind and Mary Jane thrashes until she realizes that the arms don't belong to Kaine. They belong to Falcon.  
  
Kaine's bellow of rage follows them into the sky.  
  
"Need a lift?" Sam quips.  
  
"If anyone ever tells you that you're not the most awesome super guy ever, they are lying," Mary Jane tells him. They're soaring high above Queens and far above the buildings. Swinging on webs with Peter has nothing on this, not that she'd ever tell him. But it so does.  
  
"I'm not super," Sam corrects. "Just a guy."  
  
"Lies. You are super cool."  
  
"I can live with that."  
  
"Where are we going?"  
  
"I'm taking you home while reinforcements get here to deal with our angry young friend."  
  
Mary Jane twists around. "Speaking of --"  
  
"Don't. It'll wreck your head. I know who that was and my head is wrecked enough for both of us," Sam tells her.  
  
"My head is already wrecked from seeing it. I can't believe someone thought about doing that, let alone actually did it," Mary Jane goes on. She knows he's right, that she's wrecking her head thinking about it. "And are we taking the long way home? We've kind of flown over it three times already."  
  
"Your new boyfriend's heading there, too," Sam explains. "So when I put you down, I'm gonna do it with enough backup to deal with him while you skeedaddle somewhere safe. And hopefully not get my wings torn off this time."  
  
"He tore your wings off?"  
  
"His half-daddy did."  
  
"Ugh! This is so crazy!"  
  
"It is. Those HYDRA guys are nuts."  
  
"How is this my life?"  
  
Sam snorts. "You're asking me? I was going about my business running group therapy sessions down at the VA and the next thing you know I'm following Captain America and taking down SHIELD."  
  
"Does that mean I could be a fancy superhero too?" Mary Jane asks.  
  
"Putting up with all this Peter Parker related craziness?" Sam says earnestly, "I think you already are. Super Girlfriend."  
  
Super Girlfriend. Mary Jane likes the sound of that.  
  
   
  
000000000000000000  
  
   
  
It's a set-up.  
  
He knows it the second they pull up in front of Mary Jane's house. No. She knows it. She has to remember who she is and it isn't Peter. She's Jessica. Jessica Drew Murdock. But she feels like Peter and has to grab onto Matt's arm to keep from rushing over to take Mary Jane in her arms when Sam lands in front of Mary's house.  
  
"Steady," Matt murmurs and his voice is like the calm eye of the hurricane that's raging in her head. "Easy, Jessica Murdock."  
  
She's no idiot. She understands exactly why he's using her name but the thing is, it works. His voice grounds her almost as much as hearing the name does. Did Matt learn how to deal with psychologically damaged spider-people somewhere or does it just come naturally to him?  
  
"Who is that?" Mary Jane asks, looking in their direction but definitely staring at Jessica. "I-is that --?"  
  
Jessica's spider-sense tingles and she ducks just as one of her brothers?--clones?--whatever launches himself at her. She dodges just in time but Matt isn't fast enough, which is saying something about how fast spider-clones can move because Matt is darned fast.  
  
Matt rolls with the assault and gives as good as he's got to Furry Peter.  
  
Natasha is even faster than Matt as she leaps into the fray.  
  
And -- ouch -- Sam walked right into that. Sorry, Sam. Furry apparently does not know his own spider-strength.  
  
They've got Furry Peter under control which is good because Jessica's attention is on Mary Jane. The plan was for Mary to go somewhere safe and there's only one place that Mary goes when things hit the fan -- the old warehouse where they kissed for the first time.  
  
No. Peter kissed her there. And she's Jessica. Jessica Drew Murdock. She's a girl. Girls like boys. Not other girls. Well, maybe not other girls. Definitely not Mary Jane. Mary Jane is off limits. Just like the rest of Peter Parker's life.  
  
God, get a grip, she tells herself.  
  
The point is, Kaine is waiting for Mary Jane at that old warehouse. He has to be there because there's no other reason Furry would be here. If it hadn't been for Kaine bullying him, Furry would still be in his cell back at the Zoo. Furry is hella shy. And a lousy fighter.  
  
Jessica winces as Natasha kicks Furry in a place where boys shouldn't be kicked. Her hand drops down to cover...well, not what it was reaching to cover in sympathy.  
  
She hopes Kaine is having as hard a time as she is with all the jumbled up memories HYDRA stuck in his head. It's bad enough to have to deal with Peter's memories but from what Natasha was explaining about this Bucky Barnes Winter Soldier guy, Kaine has to be a hot mess.  
  
The problem is, he's a hot mess with the same powers she has and the skills of a seventy year old living weapon.  
  
She's going to be so grounded when Matt catches up to her.  
  
Assuming she survives.  
  



	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

 

  
It ends the way a fight with a clone of Peter Parker shouldn't, with the clone dropping dead in the middle of the street. Matt hears a shuddering final gasp and then the creature collapses. He knows it wasn't their fault. The plan was to incapacitate, not kill, just as it is for all of the clones. After all, which of them could bear being responsible for killing even a pale reflection of Peter?  
  
"Heart attack?" Natasha asks.  
  
"Stroke, I think." Matt corrects her, "not that I have any kind of medical training."  
  
"Field medic," Sam murmurs, kneeling next to the body. His voice expresses everything Matt's feeling about the clone's death. "But I think you might be right."  
  
Just like everything else involving Peter, the dead clone isn't even the worst of their problems. No. That would be the arrival of the police and the media. There are news vans and four reporters, including one from the Spanish language station, each reporting that the Avengers have killed Spider-man. Matt isn't sure whether he's relieved that none of them seem to care that Daredevil is on the scene, far from his territory of Hell's Kitchen and that he's out in broad daylight. In fact, he's being lumped in with the rest of the Avengers. Or maybe the Avengers are being lumped in with him because a cop steps forward, holding a badge in Matt's direction.  
  
He's older, calmer than the rest and his demeanor says that he's the high-ranking officer. "Hold it right there. My name is Captain George Stacy and I'd like to speak to whichever of you is in charge."  
  
Matt winces. Natasha avoids speaking with cops wherever possible and Sam isn't nearly seasoned enough to do it. By process of elimination, that leaves Matt, whose experience with cops is either being hunted by them as Daredevil or dealing with them as Matt Murdock. Since his team-mates all seem to be deferring to him, he steps forward and pitches his voice low. "Captain, I'm Daredevil and my companions are Black Widow and Falcon."  
  
"Am I correct in assuming the body on the ground is Spider-Man?" Stacy asks. He turns and barks furiously at the uniforms behind him. "Get those reporters back, sergeant! Now! This is a crime scene. No reporters!"  
  
Crime scene. The police are going to want the body.  
  
Natasha comes to the same conclusion and it spurs her into action. "This is Avengers' business, Captain. We'll be taking the body with us."  
  
"On whose authority?" Stacy counters. "The Avengers have no official jurisdiction and as of right now, I'm seeing three adults who may or may not have been responsible for the death of what is on public record as a minor."  
  
This, Matt tells himself, is why Daredevil works alone, in the dark and in Hell's Kitchen. He knows it and the uniforms behind Stacy know it. There are mumbles and whispers of 'vigilante' and 'Daredevil' along with 'cop killer' and 'murderer.' This situation is a powder keg that is one spark away from exploding.  
  
Naturally, that's when Iron Man arrives.  
  
None of them are wearing comm links but it's as if they've all planned these moves in advance.  
  
Falcon grabs the body and takes off.  
  
Natasha grabs Matt's hand and leads him at a breakneck paces down the streets of Forest Hills, up a fire escape, onto an unfamiliar roof, then onto another and down another fire escape. They cut through back yards and finally end up in Peter Parker's basement.  
  
Matt's been to Peter's home twice before but he's never been in the basement. It doesn't take much effort to detect that Peter spends a good deal of time down here, working on his web devices and web fluid. There's also the scent of metal and gunpowder, which means Bucky stashes his weapons and ammunition here.  
  
There's the sound of desk drawers opening and Natasha rifling through magazines. "I knew this kid was a weirdo."  
  
"Boys his age have a dirty magazine or two, Natasha. It's normal."  
  
"Did you?" As if she doesn't know the answer, judging by the teasing lilt of her voice.  
  
He grins at her. "There wouldn't have been much point."  
  
"I'm sure Tony would be happy to invent Braille porn for you. Wanna know what nasty stuff your little friend is into?"  
  
"That's priva --"  
  
"Journal of Bioengineering, Journal of Biochemistry, Scientific American..." She flips through the magazines and stuffs them back into the drawer. "It's a miracle he's actually got a girlfriend."  
  
"He's a good kid," Matt counters. He's about to say more but he realizes with a start that he can't hear Jessica's heartbeat, that she hasn't been following him to safety and then he curses himself for becoming distracted with saving his own skin. "Where's Jessica?"  
  
Natasha is about to answer when Matt holds up a hand for silence. Someone is outside the house, heading straight for the basement. He tilts his head, takes in more information and realizes it's Mary Jane and she's out of breath.  
  
She flings the basement doors open. "Oh thank God I found you...you need to go... Warehouse. Cruz and Third. He's killing her. K-Kaine is killing that poor spider girl!"  
  
  
  
00000000000000000  
  
  
  
"C'mere, kid."  
  
It's stupid. Barnes knows it's stupid but he does it anyway. He flings the conference room door open, grabs Petey by the back of the neck and hauls him out of the room. The kid doesn't make a sound or try to break Barnes' hold as he's dragged into the smaller conference room at the end of the hall.  
  
He probably knows what's coming.  
  
They go through this routine more often than Barnes wants to admit.  
  
He pulls Petey to him, rests his chin on the kid's head and tries to calm the fuck down, just like he does when the memories hit him, either as nightmares or just coming out of nowhere in broad daylight. To his credit, Petey never denies him this bit of comfort. Probably, that's because Petey knows why Barnes craves it.  
  
It's just like holding onto Steve before everything went to shit, back when Steve was the one who needed to be protected and Barnes was the protector. It's crazy that he needs to feel like he can be the protector again and that Petey is the one who needs protection. Yeah, it's crazy, he tells himself, but it's also true.  
  
Besides, the kid's in just as bad shape at Barnes is. He's clinging on like a goddamned barnacle, another victim of the squids and their agenda to fuck up as many lives as possible in their quest for world domination.  
  
Neither of them look at Steve when he lets himself into the room.  
  
"Thanks Bucky," Petey says, pulling away and doing the stupid thing, as usual, by trying to take responsibility. "I needed that."  
  
Steve's expression says he doesn't buy that for one second. "Buck?"  
  
"'M fine." He reaches over and ruffles the kid's hair, the way he used to do to Steve when they were both young and stupid like Petey. "Petey, you get the plan now?"  
  
Petey's shoulders slump. "Most of it."  
  
"This is the time to talk to us," Barnes says, firmly. "Anything you don't understand --"  
  
"I don't understand any of this!" The kid throws his hands into the air, showing that he's as frustrated as Barnes feels. "This is so fuc--"  
  
"Language," Steve gently chides him.  
  
"Fucking surreal," Barnes finishes for him and winks at Steve. "You gonna scold me too? I'm the one that taught you how to swear, remember?"  
  
"I've never forgotten, Buck and I'm damned glad you remember," Steve says with a wry grin.  
  
Barnes rolls his eyes at him and then gets serious as he addresses Petey. "You're gonna see stuff in there. So'm I. I need you to make sure I don't have an episode, so you've gotta stick close." He can't even look at Stevie as he says this. "Promise me."  
  
"I promise," Petey says, solemnly.  
  
Out of the corner of his eyes, Barnes sees Steve the kid give an approving nod.  
  
His hands reach out, gripping Petey's scrawny little shoulders again, not so much because he needs the kid to pay attention but because he needs the contact. Wilson told him this was okay, that usually people have pets for this kind of thing. Go figure he's got himself a therapy spider-kid. Thank you, HYDRA for fucking him up that badly. "Don't worry about following Stevie's plan. You follow me, okay? I'll be your CO and all you need to worry about is doing what I say, when I say. If I tell you to do something that sounds impossible, remember that I know more about these kinds of ops than you do."  
  
Petey looks over at Steve.  
  
"I agree with Buck," Steve approves. "Follow him."  
  
"Okay, but n-no killing. I won't kill anybody."  
  
"No killing," Barnes promises. "You leave that to me."  
  
He hopes Deadpool leaves him a few.  
  
   
  
00000000000000000000000  
  
   
  
This was a bad idea.  
  
In his whole history of bad ideas, why did he think taking on a clone of himself -- one that had crazy super soldier genes --- could possibly be a good idea? Especially after all of those disastrous training sessions she had with Kaine. Dammit. She's a she. She's getting distracted, worrying about who she is as she tries to avoid Kaine the Killing Machine's fists.  
  
"Where is she? Where's MJ?" Kaine demands for the umpteenth time as Jessica dodges him. He's slipping in and out of Russian and in and out of reality. "Where is Stevie?! Give him to me!"  
  
Stevie as in Steve Rogers as in Captain America, who she freaked out so badly last night that he will probably never speak to her again. "Go get him. He's at the Tower." In a stroke of maybe-genius, she adds, "With Mary Jane."  
  
This sets Kaine off even more.  
  
Jessica scrabbles higher up the wall but Kaine is stronger, faster and he leaps up, grabs her ankle and throws her down before her Spidey sense can even tingle. The best she can hope for is to roll the right way when the hard concrete warehouse floor comes rushing up to meet her. She still rolling when Kaine lands on top of her.  
  
"Dude! Awkward! I'm your sister!"  
  
He calls her some very not-nice things in Russian and hits her so hard in the face that she sees stars.  
  
In Russian. Think, Peter. Russian is important. And that's when she remembers the trigger words and phrases Natasha used. Whatever else HYDRA did to her, she's got an expert level command of Russian and, apparently, an eidetic memory because she recalls every single word. She has no idea what any of them will do. Still, if she says them, maybe she can short circuit Kaine.  
  
She needs distance and she needs to get out from under his fists because he just broke two of her ribs and maybe her cheekbone, too. If she's dizzy and disoriented, does that mean she has a concussion?  
  
Webs.  
  
Kaine has Winter Soldier stuff but Kaine does not have webs.  
  
Commander Rumlow never let her use webs during her sparring sessions with Kaine, enforcing the order with his stupid stun baton and laughing when Kaine inevitably beat the snot out of her. Rumlow liked seeing how Peter's healing factor worked. He and the other clowns used to make bets about how long it would take Peter -- Jessica, damn it -- to heal.  
  
No.  
  
Do not think of that now, she tells herself. Think about getting out of this mess.  
  
All she needs to do is get her hand up.  
  
And ignore the broken wrist enough to shoot the web right into his big, stupid WinterSpider face.  
  
The effect is immediate. Kaine rears back, trying to bellow, trying to breathe and Jessica wriggles out from under him. She's slurring the words, thanks to the damned maybe-concussion but it doesn't matter, because she's running through them so fast that Kaine's body jerks and twitches.  
  
He crashes to the floor, convulsing.  
  
Jessica rises shakily and webs him from head to toe. Out of the corner of her eyes, she sees the flash of red hair.  
  
MJ. She saved MJ.  
  
Thank God.  
  
Then she passes out.  
  



	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter hugs Deadpool. "I think I love you."
> 
> "You've just made all the slash writers out in fanfic land very happy, Spidey-boy."

Chapter 11  
  
  
  
HYDRA saw them coming and sent a welcoming committee. Not that this is unexpected or unplanned for, but Steve is missing half his team and while he knows they can handle this, he still worries. And then he sees Deadpool in action for the first time.  
  
Deadpool walks into enemy gunfire without a care in the world, not even flinching as bullets hit him from every angle, using his ARX 100 to paint the wooded area outside the office park with blood and brains. It's simultaneously horrifying and astounding but most of all, it's like watching a deadlier, crazier version of himself in action. Bucky launches himself into the fray with a similar disregard for his own safety, but that's only because he takes the enemy down as effectively as Deadpool.  
  
"Now you know what it's like to be the useless sidekick," Clint says over the comm link.  
  
Steve is far from useless but between Bucky and Deadpool, he's just doing cleanup while keeping an eye on Peter. "You okay, son?"  
  
Peter grunts which Steve interprets to mean that he's struggling to keep his lunch down.  
  
"Deadpool, you're on. Take care of that force field," Steve orders and even though the mercenary demonstrated his teleportation disc four times, he still watches in awe as the man seems to break apart and vanish. Even so, he's concerned. There's no guarantee that Deadpool can breach the force field with his device and with Tony being called away to deal with the clone in Queens, there was no way to run simulations. Not that Deadpool seemed at all worried but Steve would prefer not to be responsible for killing the un-killable mercenary. Even if he is annoying as hell. "Deadpool. Report."  
  
There's a loud burst of gunfire in his ear, followed by the sound of Deadpool's katanas being drawn. After that, there's a lot of screaming, most of which is cut short.  
  
Steve cuts his eyes over to Peter in time to see Bucky grab him and tug him towards the doors.  
  
"All clear," Clint reports. He's on the roof of the office building across from the one they're about to storm. It doesn't escape Steve's notice that both buildings bear the Roxxon logo.  
  
The doors fly open and there's Deadpool, waving cheerfully. He's bleeding profusely and using one hand to cover a wound to his stomach that must have perforated his bowel because the smell is unbelievably bad. "Hi guys."  
  
Steve is no stranger to these kinds of wounds but in his experience, Deadpool should be dead at least four times over. He can hear his voice shake ever so slightly as he says, "Good job, Deadpool."  
  
Bucky slants him a look. "You okay, punk?"  
  
"Fine," Steve lies and then Deadpool steps aside giving Steve his first look into the facility's entrance.  
  
There are bodies everywhere and the walls are sprayed with blood, brains and gore.  
  
He hears Peter moan and turns in time to see Bucky catch the boy as he faints. With a wry grin, Bucky slings Peter's unconscious body over his shoulder.  
  
Deadpool crouches next to one of the bodies and pulls an identification badge off of it, wiping it on his arm before presenting it to Steve. "This clown was in charge so I figure his badge'll get us into anything that's locked. Unless you want me to teleport again?"  
  
"Um... I'll let you know."  
  
"Reinforcements coming, Cap," Clint's voice says in his ear.  
  
"Oooh! Can I, Cap?" Deadpool asks, raising his left hand as he waves it in the air to volunteer. His intestines fall out of his stomach wound and, with a shrug, he starts scooping them up. "Pretty please?"  
  
Between the stench, the squelching sound and the sight of Deadpool scooping up his insides, it's all Steve can do to nod his permission and not vomit.  
  
Whistling, Deadpool skips out the open doors, still stuffing his intestines back into his body.  
  
"Can't say the guy doesn't have guts," Bucky deadpans.  
  
Steve stares at him.  
  
"You're not gonna puke, are you, Stevie?"  
  
"If you squeeze Spider-man any tighter, you're going to break something," Steve counters as they set off down the corridor. "He's not a rag doll, Buck."  
  
"He's got a healing factor," Bucky mutters, but he loosens his grip.  
  
As if on cue, Peter groans and stirs. Bucky eases him down to the floor, keeping a firm hold on the boy's arms.  
  
"Better now?" Steve asks. They're well away from the carnage, halfway to the stairs that will take them down to the labs. Gunfire and yodeling sound in his ear, along with screams and Deadpool's running commentary.  
  
Peter flinches as he hears the sounds over his comm link. "Uh..."  
  
Bucky doesn't hesitate. He pulls Peter's mask off and snatches the boy's comm link, stuffing it into a pocket. Holding the mask out to Peter, he fixes him with a look. "You stay here with Stevie. I'm gonna go clean out the stairwell."  
  
"Buck --" Steve starts to protest.  
  
"I've got this," Bucky says, waving him off. "Watch the kid and cover my back."  
  
He yanks open the stairwell door and starts shooting. There's the answering sound of gunfire along with the the pinging of bullets ricocheting.  
  
Steve raises his shield, tugging Peter in close next to him as he faces the stairwell. He thinks he's braced for anything but he's wrong. Peter pushes him aside just as a figure in black drops from the ceiling.  
  
They move so quickly that they are almost a blur, even to Steve's enhanced vision. This clone is wearing a black bodysuit with a stylized white spider across the chest but it's the six arms that catches Steve's attention. Six arms that each end in a set of pincer-like claws.  
  
Peter manages to web two claws together before he's knocked across the corridor. The clone pounces and starts to pummel the boy. Steve grabs an arm and yanks, using his shield to hit the clone across the face.  
  
He can't help but recoil when he sees the clone's face. There's no sign of intelligence in the lone functioning eye. The other eye is milky and obviously blind, set in a face of greyish-brown, lightly furred skin with a maw full of sharp teeth.  
  
If Steve had any doubts that Peter's been holding back during their training sessions, the clone quickly dispels them by driving Steve back with a series of six-armed blows while it snaps at him with jaws that open obscenely wide.  
  
"Dude, really? Captain America is totally our hero." Peter asks, throwing himself at the clone. "That's not how you treat your idol -- ouch! Or your DNA donor." There's no sign that the clone recognizes Peter or even understands him as it clamps its teeth onto his shoulder. Peter screams in pain.  
  
Steve's reaction is automatic as he brings the edge of his shield down on the clone's neck. Hard. Bone crunches and the clone goes limp.  
  
The mask on Peter's face does little to conceal his horrified reaction. "You killed him!"  
  
"Peter --"  
  
"Steve, that clone was --"  
  
"Dangerous," Steve finishes and then imparts the cold, hard truth. "He's probably not the only clone that's going to die today."  
  
Peter staggers to his feet, eyeing the clone and then raising his chin towards Steve. "I know," he says quietly. "It's just... Th-that could have *been* me i-if the Oz affected me differently. I could've been a..." He swallows thickly. "Monster."  
  
"Just like I could have turned out like the Red Skull. Or worse."  
  
"Or you could have turned out perfect like me," Deadpool says coming up to them. His stomach wound is healed, though he has fresh bullet wounds in his arms and legs. "Any more guys to kill? Mine are all dead and I'm kinda bored."  
  
"I'm sure there are more," Steve tells him and he can't believe he's this happy to see the crazy mercenary.  
  
"Good." Deadpool nods towards the clone's body. "I feel like killing some more HYDRA guys."  
  
Peter hugs Deadpool. "I think I love you."  
  
"You've just made all the slash writers out there in fanfic land very happy, Spidey-boy."  
  
  
  
000000000000000000000000  
  
  
  
Matt never thought much about how helpless his father must have felt when he lost his sight. Until now. He's pacing the hall outside the medical wing while Bruce examines Jessica and he's realizing for the first time just how frustrated and angry Jack Murdock must have been that fateful day.  
  
"You've been a parent less than twenty-four hours," Natasha says. "At the rate you're going, you'll be gray or bald by the end of the week."  
  
"Some parent. I lost track of her and couldn't get her out of that warehouse without your help," Matt spits.  
  
Natasha steps into his path, stopping his pacing. "That's what teamwork is, tovarisch. I'll admit, it has its drawbacks sometimes, but it's nice to have people you trust and who back you when you need it. And believe me, I was far from a team player when Clint met me." Her tone softens. "From what I understand, parents screw up all the time."  
  
"They try to do their best," Matt says, thinking of his father.  
  
"And is your best going to be trying to find Kaine and taking him down by yourself?" Natasha asks. "Because I'm thinking that if he could do that to someone of just about equal strength and speed and her webs didn't hold him, it might not be such a great idea."  
  
"Are you offering to help?"  
  
"Did I not just explain about teamwork?"  
  
"Maybe I'm not that smart."  
  
"Of course you're not smart. You were about to have a conversation with that cop." She laughs softly. "That was actually impressive. I'd ask if you knew how many guns were pointed at you but I'm sure you do."  
  
"Just like I know we're all wanted for murdering Spider-man and stealing the body." He can't help smiling at the thought. "Steve's going to have a heart attack when he finds out."  
  
Natasha's tone is thoughtful. "It should be taken care of by then."  
  
"By whom?" He focuses on her to try to glean her meaning but he can't tell a damned thing, that's how good she is. And God, does he like that.  
  
"Whom?" she echoes playfully and Matt knows that she knows he likes it. But does she like him? He can't tell and it's distracting --  
  
But just not distracting enough because his mind makes the intuitive leap. "Fury."  
  
"Yup." Natasha pops the 'p' at the end. "He's been watching out for Parker since the day the kid was bitten by that spider."  
  
Before Matt can probe that statement and Natasha's maybe-interest in him further, Banner comes out of the room where he's been examining Jessica. "How is she?"  
  
"Healing at a rate that's consistent with Peter, which means she should be fine in about twenty four to thirty six hours." Bruce shifts slightly and clears his throat. "The problem with that kind of healing factor is that the bones need to be set quickly or they have to be re-broken. You got her here before that was an issue but it's something you need to keep in mind."  
  
Matt wants to exhale in relief but he can sense just the tiniest increase in Bruce's usually slow, steady pulse. "What else?"  
  
"Physically she's fine, aside from the broken bones," Bruce says firmly. "Emotionally is another matter. Between her unique version of gender dysphoria, identity issues and post traumatic stress from what she experienced in that HYDRA facility... Jessica is struggling, Matt. She's going to be struggling for a while and you should talk to Pepper about finding her the right kind of help. The good news is that while she's reckless, that comes from Peter's personality and probably not from any suicidal tendencies."  
  
"And the bad news?" Of course he's going to ask. He's Catholic.  
  
Bruce sighs wearily. "She hates labs and hospitals -- with good reason, of course. Still, I wouldn't recommend moving her for at least six hours. Eight to ten would be optimal and I want to monitor how she's healing every hour so I'm going to need you here to keep her calm."  
  
"Teamwork," Natasha intones, because she knows he's thinking about Kaine being out there somewhere. "Sam is watching Mary Jane. If anything happens --"  
  
"If anything happens, Jessica will understand why I have to go."  
  
"Of course she will, but who's going to make sure she doesn't leave?"  
  
Matt smiles in response.  
  
Foggy's going to have to meet Jessica eventually.  
  



	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12  
  
  
  
Peter feels Bucky's hand grip his shoulder as Steve slides the card key over the touch pad. The lab door swings open and Steve freezes at the threshold with a sharp intake of breath, his bulk blocking the entrance. He turns and eyes Peter, expression unreadable under his cowl. "Buck, stay close to him."  
  
At least he didn't ask Peter to go outside and wait. There's that, he supposes.  
  
Bucky's left hand kneads Peter's shoulder as they follow Steve in and then the metal fingers clench hard. He freezes in his tracks when he takes in the lab's contents, his tight grip holding Peter in place.  
  
Not that Peter can move when he sees the four cryo tanks lined up along with wall and six more tanks next to them. In each of the six tanks, a clone is suspended in liquid. The clones are hideously deformed and it occurs to Peter that the exposed muscle and bone on some of them might be surgical rather than something that happened during creation. It's easier to focus on the science, he tells himself, because if he notices they all have his face, he's going to lose it. Just as he starts to go in for a closer look, Bucky's firm grip yanks him back.  
  
Bucky just tightens his hold, eyes glued to the cryo tanks. His breathing speeds up and a tremor runs through him but he doesn't make a sound.  
  
Later, Peter promises himself. He'll have his own breakdown later. Right now, he needs to make sure Bucky doesn't go full Winter Soldier on them or shut down completely. He wraps his arms around Bucky and snuggles close, the way they've been doing it every time Bucky's had an attack.  
  
It seems to take forever but Bucky lowers his gun, shudders once and embraces Peter, panting as if he'd run for miles. "Thanks, kid."  
  
"You okay?"  
  
"No, but I'm coping, thanks to you." Bucky detaches himself and stares down at Peter. "How about you?"  
  
"Freaking."  
  
"I don't blame you," he says, his gaze returning to the cryo tanks. "Between this horror show and all the dead squids in the stairs, 's gotta be a lot for you to take in, Petey."  
  
"Ladies, gentlemen and spider-folks, we've got a live one," Deadpool announces, hauling a figure in a white lab coat out from under the desk and thrusting his captive towards Steve. "Cap? Kill or question?"  
  
The man flails in Deadpool's grasp. "Please don't hurt me. I'm just a scientist."  
  
Bucky emits a low growl that says exactly what he thinks of HYDRA scientists.  
  
Peter steps forward to give the guy a piece of his mind but he instantly forgets everything he wants to say when he sees the guy's unbelievably familiar face. "B-but you're dead... You're supposed to be dead!"  
  
"Peter?" Steve comes closer, resting a hand on Peter's shoulder, shield half-raised and ready to go on the attack. "Do you know this man?"  
  
"I-I think...I think that's my father."  
  
"Whoa," Deadpool says. "Anybody see that plot twist coming?"  
  
  
  
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000  
  
  
  
"Explain." It's the first word out of Foggy's mouth before he even steps off the elevator onto the Tower's common floor. "Explain these reports about how you killed Spider-man, Matt. I thought he was your friend."  
  
"He is and he's still alive." Matt raises both hands in supplication. "I just... There's something else we need to talk about."  
  
"Is it worse than everybody thinking you killed Spider-man?"  
  
"No," Matt says. "It's actually good thing but the two are related."  
  
"Well, that's a relief," Foggy lies and he knows Matt knows he's lying but Foggy doesn't care because if it were really a good thing, they could have discussed it over the phone.  
  
"Maybe you should sit."  
  
"I thought it's not that bad."  
  
"It isn't," Matt assures him. "It's just... complicated."  
  
And there it is, the phrase they've heard a million times - okay, more like fifty, but hey, they're a new firm -- from prospective clients. Complicated usually means court time, bitter arguments with opposing counsel and more importantly, clients who lie to make themselves look better because they're the reason things are so damned complicated in the first place. Foggy braces himself and then treats Matt just like all the other prospective clients who use those words. "Start from the beginning."  
  
"HYDRA's been doing experiments," Matt begins and it's immediately obvious he's been rehearsing this in his head because he's talking to Foggy like he's giving an opening argument to a jury. "Put simply, they've been cloning Peter --"  
  
"Jesus," Foggy exclaims and decides that Matt is right about sitting down. He's been hearing all about HYDRA's obsession with super soldiers since Matt started hanging around with the Avengers and that Parker kid.  
  
"They weren't content to make copies, either." Matt takes a deep breath and his voice rises angrily. "They started tinkering."  
  
"Tinkering?"  
  
"They mixed his DNA with Bucky Barnes' DNA."  
  
"Like one of those tiger-lion things?" And holy shit, his voice just cracked because Barnes is scary-as-fuck when he's having one of his bad days.  
  
Matt nods tightly. "We've got a half-crazed clone running around Manhattan. The one that died this afternoon was another clone --"  
  
"Died? You guys didn't, uh..."  
  
"No!" Matt says sharply.  
  
"Just checking," Foggy assures him. "You mentioned the other guys don't mind, uh, crossing that line and I wondered. So, clones. How many are we talking about?"  
  
"There are five that I know of. The one that died, the Scorpion, Kaine, the one with the arms and..." Matt trails off and turns his head so that he's facing Foggy. "Jessica."  
  
"Jessica?" Foggy echoes. "They made a girl? Out of Peter Parker? They can do that?"  
  
"They can and they did." Matt shifts uncomfortably and Foggy is reminded of the not-so-distant past when Foggy found out about the Daredevil-ing.  
  
Foggy leans forward, instantly hyper alert because Matt isn't telling him everything. "What'd you do? Sleep with her?"  
  
"Foggy, she's a child!"  
  
That's when Foggy connects the dots. "And that's why you spent hours researching guardianships and custody instead of working on the Ramirez response. Don't you think Mrs. Parker is going to want this kid?"  
  
"I'm hoping she's going to understand that I'm doing this in Jessica's best interest," Matt says, reverting back to lawyer-speak and then switches back to just-Matt again. "She wanted me. She came to me. I have to believe there was a reason for it."  
  
"What aren't you telling me, Matt?"  
  
"I gave her my name when she was baptized this morning."  
  
"Why would you do that?!"  
  
Matt stiffens and then his expression darkens. "She was made in a lab and she has all of Peter's memories. There are times she thinks she *is* Peter. They forced a gender and a name on this life that they created and God knows what else they forced her to do. She came to me for help and I'm helping her."  
  
"You gave her a name and they gave her a name, buddy. Explain the difference and why it's supposed to help." It's easier to focus on the name because if he thinks about the gender thing, his head might explode.  
  
"They gave their experiment a name because they needed to call it something," Matt practically spits. He takes a deep breath. "Those years in St. Agnes, Foggy, I was one of the lucky ones. I knew my father and I knew I was named for *his* father. That the name was chosen with care. With love. Most of the kids at St. Agnes never knew their parents and the nuns picked their names randomly, from a Bible. It started then, I think, these kids never feeling like they belonged, never fitting in. I didn't want that for Jessica."  
  
"That's a pretty big commitment," Foggy says carefully.  
  
"She's fifteen. She might choose emancipation at sixteen or --"  
  
Foggy snorts. "Idiot, I mean the emotional commitment. You really *are* blind." Then he sighs. "So am I 'Uncle Foggy' now?"  
  
"Natasha called me 'Dad-Devil'." And then Matt's mouth quirks in the tiniest hint of a smile.  
  
"What was that?"  
  
The smile fades and Matt tilts his head, trying to suss out whatever is on Foggy's mind. "What was what?"  
  
"That little smile." Foggy narrows his eyes. "You and Natasha? No, wait. That makes perfect sense considering your lifestyle choices, like the one where you decide to put on a devil suit and the other one where you adopt an emotionally damaged, gender confused female clone of Peter Parker." He wants to talk sense into Matt but, unfortunately, the whole thing makes sense for Matt. He's Daredevil and he's adopted a spider-kid. "You know Matt, your heart is bigger than your head sometimes."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"You heard me and now hear this." He stands up and uses his own 'opening argument' voice. "It's time to tell Karen about you. Not like she probably doesn't already suspect with you coming into the office beat to shit every morning after Daredevil makes the news. The thing is, the minute Daredevil and his little Spider-girl start showing up on the nightly news, it's not going to be hard to realize his kid showed up the same time as yours."  
  
Matt sighs and that's when Foggy knows he's finally won the argument about telling Karen. "She calls herself Spider-woman."  
  
"Wonderful." Whatever. "We need to figure out how to build an identity for her --"  
  
"Steve says Tony can hack whatever state systems we need to do that," Matt ticks off. "Father Lantom offered to get her into the parish high school in exchange for legal services to be provided by me --"  
  
"Us. We're partners and you're going to be busy being an Avenger, a vigilante and a spider-daddy." Okay, maybe it's not so bad. Look at all the great jokes he gets to make. He hasn't even started in on little avocado seed cracks yet. "So when do I get to meet her?"  
  
Matt smiles.  
  



	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Who's writing this stuff?" Deadpool asks. "Because I really didn't see that coming and you can only give kudos once, you know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter makes a reference to the Ultimate Venom story arc.

Chapter 13  
  
  
  
Any doubt Steve had about whether the dark-haired man is Peter's father is gone the second the boy tugs off his mask. They have the same eyes and the same face. The elder Parker wrenches out of Deadpool's grasp and pulls a shell-shocked Peter into his arms. "Come here, kid."  
  
A shudder runs through Peter and there are tears in his eyes as he forcefully shoves his father back. "H-how... How could you do this?" He jabs a finger in the direction of the tanks containing his clones. "How could you...? Science is supposed to be about making things better, not m-making... God... And HYDRA? I-I --"  
  
"I am making things better," Parker tells him. "Don't you see --?"  
  
"By doing this to me?!"  
  
"I'm doing this *for* you, Peter, so you can grow up in a world without war."  
  
"A w-world with a master race?" Peter's voice rises and breaks. "That you created? Out of me? How do you go from trying to cure cancer to... to this?!"  
  
"You know about that?"  
  
"I read your papers. I - I know about the suit." The boy swallows and his shoulders slump slightly. "Eddie Brock and I tried to continue the work. We thought maybe we could solve the problem b-but..."  
  
Parker nods. "I know. I just didn't know that you knew what it was originally meant to do. I didn't set out to create a prototype of a biological weapon."  
  
Steve's eyes narrow and he takes a step closer to Peter. He has no idea what these two are talking about, let alone any idea that Peter tinkered with something as dangerous as a biological weapon. It's easy to forget that the boy he spars with is also something of a science prodigy, though he thinks that after today, it's something he's going to consider more.  
  
"Brock and I worked for a small outfit that got acquired by Roxxon, that acquired *us*. They wanted the suit, wanted to weaponize it and we fought him, Peter. We hired lawyers and we fought old man Roxxon until we were so broke that when Roxxon came to us because Roxxon's people needed someone who understood the science, we took their offer." Parker squares his shoulders and stares down at his son. "It was a second chance. For all of us. And then we found out that Roxxon was a front for HYDRA. Mary and the Brocks wanted to go to the FBI. They didn't realize what HYDRA would do, the lengths they would go to to conceal themselves. Including crash a plane full of innocent people just to shut them up."  
  
Bucky comes up behind Peter and rests a hand on Peter's shoulder. His eyes are fixed on Parker and Steve knows that if the man so much as breathes the wrong way, Bucky will kill him, regardless of what that would do to his relationship with Peter.  
  
"I couldn't take you with me," Parker goes on. "I was in no position to even ask. Or beg. HYDRA had me and they set the terms."  
  
"Which were?" Peter asks, voice shaking.  
  
"They wanted to beat Nick Fury in the race to create more super soldiers, to win the genetic war before it began. And after that... After that, I'd be free to cure cancer and AIDS and anything else that plagues mankind." His eyes cut to Bucky and then quickly go back to Peter when he sees the cold, deadly stare Bucky is directing at him. "We failed in every attempt for nearly a decade until I was given a sample of your blood. Don't you see, Peter? You are the beacon of hope for mankind's bright new future and the two of us can work together to bring it about."  
  
"Don't do it, Luke!" Deadpool calls out. "Don't go to the Dark Side."  
  
Tears are streaming down Peter's face. "I don't see. How can you possibly expect me t-to see..." He reaches up and grips Bucky's hand. "This man... this man was one of your test subjects. You stuck him in one of th-those tanks and you *tortured* him. And what? You want me to volunteer to let you do that to me for your bright new future?"  
  
"Of course I didn't torture the Asset --"  
  
"Really? The Asset," Peter practically spits the word, "didn't volunteer, not for the serum they forced on him and not for anything else that came after. How can you stand there and try to justify taking his humanity from him? How do you do something like that? Tell me because I really want to know!"  
  
Parker sighs. "You don't always have a choice, Peter."  
  
"Bucky Barnes didn't have a choice. You did and you chose to betray everything you were supposed to believe in. I should let him kill you. He's standing here and he's thinking about all the ways to do it. You know that, right? HYDRA taught him all kinds of ways to kill people. Fast. Slow. Painful. A-and I should let him because of what you helped do to him. I should." Peter takes a deep shuddering breath and sags back against Bucky. "But Uncle Ben raised me to be better than that."  
  
"Steve?" Clint's voice is soft but insistent as it comes over the comm. "Fury's here. He says everyone needs to come out now."  
  
Steve looks over at Bucky. His best friend is a hair away from snapping and tearing Peter's father to pieces. Deadpool looks like he's willing to help. And Steve thinks would gladly turn his back and let it happen, just as long as he can get Peter away before it begins. "Tell him --"  
  
"Steve, he brought Spider-Slayers with him."  
  
Damn.

   
  
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"I'm not playing around, Barton."  
  
"I know that, sir." As if Clint would make that mistake. He worked for Fury for a long time before it all went to hell. For all he knows, he may even work for Fury still. The thing is, he's an Avenger first these days and his loyalty lies with the people in that office building. "Steve's trying to control the situation."  
  
Fury eyes him. "I'm hearing the same transmission you are and what I'm hearing is the Parker kid on the verge of a nervous breakdown in a building that's crawling his clones. I don't even want to think about how close Barnes is to snapping."  
  
Clint's eyes slide to the Spider Slayers. He's not any kind of scientific genius, not by a long shot, but even he can recognize the hand of Tony Stark in designing them. The rest of the weapons Fury is holding? He's never seen them before but he knows Fury has -- or had -- a guy on the payroll that he called the Tinkerer.  
  
Steve emerges from the building first, stopping short when he sees the number of SHIELD agents and the Spider Slayers. He turns and instructs the others to wait for his word and then stalks towards Fury with murder in his eyes. "What is this, Nick?"  
  
"This," Fury tells him, "is me, coming to take Peter Parker into custody. It's over for him, Steve."  
  
"Define 'over for him'," Steve grates.  
  
Clint fingers an exploding arrow. He has an idea what 'over' means because he and Nat were part of Fury's plans to apprehend the kid.

"Over," Fury says, "as in he doesn't get to be Spider-man anymore."  
  
"Nick --"  
  
"That kid is at the center of the biggest genetic disaster since the Hulk became the Hulk, Rogers. I'm here to clean it up and that includes putting the source under lock and key." Fury takes a deep breath. "I wish it didn't have to be this way but it does. I'm going to need you to stand down, Captain, and turn the boy over to me."  
  
Peter staggers out of the building. Bucky is on his heels and Deadpool has his hand around Dr. Parker's throat, dragging him along.  
  
The boy is shaking with anger as he gets into Fury's personal space and Clint wonders if he's even aware that every weapon is pointed at him. "You knew about this."  
  
"Kid --"  
  
"Those things," Peter points at the Spider-Slayers. "Y-you made those to kill me, didn't you? Why?"  
  
"Because you're a ticking time bomb! Look around you, Parker." Fury's voice is even, his gaze steady as he stares down Peter. "How much more can you take before you explode?"  
  
Steve moves so quickly that Clint doesn't realize he's done it until he's next to Peter, tugging him back until the boy is pressed against him and safely behind his shield. "I'm not turning him over to you."  
  
"Rogers, it's not a question." Fury points towards the boy's father. "I've got Parker clones running rampant."  
  
"W-what?" Peter stiffens, his eyes tracking Fury's finger in disbelief. "Wh-what do you mean?"  
  
Fury takes a deep breath, holds it and then lets it out. "Kid, your father died twelve years ago. You know that, right?"  
  
"B-but he said... He said..."  
  
Clint winces as he realizes where Fury is going with this. Because of course things couldn't possibly get worse for the kid, right?  
  
"He said what HYDRA programmed him to say, son," Fury says more gently than Clint would ever have thought possible. "That's not your father. That's one of your clones."  
  
"Who 's writing this stuff?" Deadpool asks. "Because I really didn't see that coming and you can only give kudos once, you know."  
  
As if on cue, the clone contorts in Deadpool's grasp and shoots webbing from its fingertips, coating Deadpool's mask. He's fast but Barnes is faster, tackling the clone and bringing it to the ground. The clone throws him off with surprising strength and they start exchanging blows.  
  
"See what I mean about HYDRA programming?" Fury asks, nodding towards them.  
  
"We've got a shot, sir," one of the agents says. "Should I take it?"  
  
Deadpool fires before Fury can answer. The clone jerks as bullets hit it but it doesn't fall.  
  
The agent fires one of the unfamiliar weapons and the clone collapses.  
  
"Give it another," Fury instructs, as the clone starts to stagger to its feet.  
  
Before the agent can take the shot, Barnes grab the clone and snaps its neck.  
  
Peter drops to his knees, gagging.  
  
"Do you get it now, Rogers?" Fury crouches down. "Come on, son, don't make this harder than it has to be."  
  
It doesn't surprise Clint in the least when Steve grabs Peter, hauls him to his feet and practically throws the boy at Barnes, shouting, "Get him out of here!"  
  
"Dammit, Rogers, don't do this." Fury raises one of those weapons at Steve.  
  
It's the easiest shot in the world, knocking the weapon out of Fury's hand and Clint does it before he even realizes he's nocked the arrow. The next thing he knows, Deadpool is shoving him forward, putting his body between Fury's team and Clint as they open fire.  
  
"Speed it up, Birdguy," Deadpool says. "I can only play human shield so long before a bullet goes through me and into you."  
  
Damn it.  
  
Now he has a reason to like the crazy asshole.  
  
   
  
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Jessica is in pain and she's awake.  
  
Matt pauses outside the private room in the med wing and Foggy stops next to him, waiting while Matt assesses her condition. Her ribs and wrist are still grinding but the sound is less harsh than before, which means they're healing.  
  
Her breathing and heartbeat start to race because she can hear him, too. "Matt?"  
  
"I'm here and I brought Foggy." He pauses in the doorway, wondering if her inherited memories include Foggy.  
  
"Hi Foggy," Jessica greets him enthusiastically. "Matt? Are you mad?"  
  
"About you being reckless, running off to take Kaine on by yourself and getting badly hurt?" Matt counters.  
  
Foggy snorts. "Now you know how I feel."  
  
"Which is mad, right?" Jessica asks.  
  
"Not mad, exactly," Foggy explains. "Annoyed. Resigned. Concerned. That about sum up your feelings right now, Matthew?"  
  
"Mostly." Best not to mention that he also feels guilty.  
  
Of course, Foggy knows him better than anyone. "I almost forgot. Guilty! We have to add in a good helping of Catholic Murdock guilt. I'd even bet that guilt is at the top of Matt's list of repressed emotions that are going to erupt when he finds this Kaine guy and beats the hell out of him."  
  
"Foggy --"  
  
"Of course, Matt'll get beat to hell himself in the process because that is how your new dad rolls, Jessica. Do not be like him. He is not a superhero role model for you to emulate. If you want to emulate someone, emulate Natasha or Clint." It's amazing to Matt how well the sarcasm comes across as well-meaning advice, even to his enhanced hearing. "Actually, don't emulate Clint. He's even worse than Matt when it comes to taking care of himself. And for God's sake don't even think about using Steve as a role model. The guy jumps out of airplanes without a parachute, for crying out loud."  
  
Jessica snorts a laugh. "So what you're really saying is that you should be my role model."  
  
"I happen to be a fantastic role model," Foggy informs her loftily. "Full scholarship to Columbia Law, full scholarship to undergrad, and I am a brilliant litigator."  
  
"Modest too," Matt adds.  
  
"Absolutely," Foggy agrees. "And most importantly, I haven't been beaten half to death, unlike two people in this room and yet I've helped people. Within the confines of the law, I might add. No mask necessary."  
  
It's easier than it should be, slipping out while they banter.  
  
Living with the knowledge that he's probably a lousy role model for going after Kaine by himself?  
  
That's easy, too.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Really? You can take down the combined abilities of Spider-man and the Winter Soldier?" Natasha asks Matt skeptically. "I'd like to see that."
> 
> "Obviously or you wouldn't be here."
> 
> "Maybe I just like seeing how your ass looks in that suit."

Chapter 14  
  
  
  
Silence tells Barnes everything he needs to know.  
  
Petey hasn't made a sound since Barnes tossed him over his shoulder, cut through the drainage ditch and stole this shitty Mazda MX-3 from the shopping center two miles from the office park. The kid only gets quiet when he's angry or upset. Or in shock. Damn.  
  
First things first, Barnes tells himself. He needs to switch vehicles and get off the grid. Fast. Fury's people might make a token effort to go after Steve but Barnes has their target and Fury is a tenacious sonofabitch. Luckily, Fury doesn't know where all of HYDRA's bunkers are. Barnes does. More importantly, he knows which three are closest, have weapons and are most defensible. It turns out HYDRA programmed him to perform extractions as effectively as executions. Funny, the things he's learning about himself.  
  
And then he learns something about Deadpool.  
  
He has no idea when Deadpool found time to do it, but he somewhere in between killing every person he came across, Deadpool must have found the time to set the charges. It's the only explanation he can come up with the for the explosion he's seeing in the rearview mirror.  
  
"W-was that the Roxxon building?" Petey asks, his voice barely a whisper.  
  
"Yeah." Barnes glances over at the kid. "Petey --"  
  
"Don't, okay?"  
  
The kid's right. How is he supposed to apologize for killing the kid's clone? Or explain why killing the rest of the clones is necessary?  
  
"I-I've had my powers for eight months and they did this," Petey says hoarsely. "What did they do to you?"  
  
And *that* is why Barnes is going to protect this kid with his life. "Best not to think about it. 'S probably the only good thing about having my memory wiped."  
  
Petey nods but doesn't look at him. "Where are we going?"  
  
"Pearl River. There's a HYDRA bunker I took out just after I..." What? Went rogue? Broke programming? Whatever. It doesn't matter. He's free now and the place is secure. "I've got a weapons cache there, along with money and food. Enough to last us a while."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"JARVIS is jamming our transmissions so Fury can't follow but he'll get word of where we are to Stevie," Barnes goes on. There's no sign of Fury and his people, not from the ground and not from the air. "Part of those planning sessions you didn't understand involved rendez-vous points in case things went south. This is one of three possibles."  
  
"Oh," Petey says again and then he adds, "I hate Fury."  
  
Barnes isn't going to argue that point, not when he read HYDRA's files, which were also SHIELD's files about how they stole blood samples from the kid every chance they got at Fury's direction, starting from the time the kid's uncle took him to the hospital after the spider bit him. Instead he changes the subject to something less emotionally fraught. "Petey, you think that spider- sense of yours could spot a tail?"  
  
The boy's eyes narrow in thought, just like Barnes hoped, as he considers the question. Petey loves a good scientific problem and thank God for it. "I think so. I've never tried using it that way."  
  
"You use it reactively, waitin' for trouble to find you," Barnes agrees. Trouble should be finding them. Fury should be hot on their heels unless Steve... Of course Steve. But still... "Wanna give it a try? See if you can help me?"  
  
"You need *my* help?" Petey asks skeptically.  
  
"I *want* your help." He also wants Petey to focus on something other than panicking about the damned clones and Fury. There's something familiar about doing this, maybe something he did back in the war for another panicking kid, possibly in a trench somewhere. Damn HYDRA for what they did to his memories. "I can spot a tail just fine and I can spot attacks from above, too. Still, if they're cloaking themselves, it'd help to be able to spot 'em faster with your spider-sense. That is one damn useful ability, Petey."  
  
"Okay," the kid agrees, closing his eyes and starting to even out his breathing. "I'll try."  
  
If this works, Barnes thinks, Petey is going to be damn near unstoppable when Barnes finishes training him. With everything that's coming after him, he's going to need to be and Barnes intends to make training Petey his new mission.  
  
   
  
00000000000000000  
  
   
  
"You think Spidey's gonna be mad at me?" Deadpool asks Steve. He's lying on top of Clint, covering him with his body as debris from the office building rains down. "He didn't get to blow the building, like I promised, and we all know how sensitive he is. If he is angry, you think he'd forgive me if I buy him ice cream? Does he like rocky road? Never mind, who doesn't like rocky road? It's the king of ice cream and nobody can be mad if they've got ice cream, right?"  
  
Steve can't speak for Peter but he' s this close to kissing Deadpool, no ice cream necessary. "When did you find time to plant the charges?"  
  
"Are you kidding?" Deadpool cocks his head at Steve. "I could have built a nuke during that clone's long-ass 'Hail HYDRA' soliloquy. And it helps if you've got a teleportation disc. You really need to get one, Cap." He levers himself off of Clint. "Sorry about the intestinal leakage on your spiffy tac suit, Birdguy."  
  
Clint stares at the mercenary. "Are you kidding? That would be *my* intestinal leakage if you hadn't..."  
  
Deadpool pats his shoulder. "Send me the bill for the dry cleaning."  
  
"As long as you send us the bill for a new costume," Steve offers because he's this close to offering Deadpool a spot on the team and paying for a new costume is the course of action he's least likely to regret. "It's the least we can do --"  
  
"Nah, Cap. No worries. My spandex guy gives me a bulk discount." He bounces to his feet and stretches. Blood drips from wounds to his head, shoulders, chest and stomach. Even though Steve has seen his share of battlefield wounds, the sight is discomfiting. "Speaking of teleporting, which rendez-vous point do you want to hit first?"  
  
"You can teleport all three of us that far?" Clint asks, eyes going wide. "I mean, the closest one is in Pearl River and that's over a hundred miles away."  
  
"I teleported myself to the top of a mountain once," Deadpool shrugs. "And according to my little yellow box, it's one hundred and forty point seven miles from here to Pearl River."  
  
Steve raises an eyebrow. "Little yellow box?"  
  
"Those little yellow boxes are lifesavers. Couldn't get through a mission without 'em." He pulls the teleportation disc from a pouch on his belt. "You can borrow mine if you want, Cap. No, those boxes are you talking to yourself. Are not. Are too. Cut it out!" Deadpool shakes his head, apparently trying to clear his thoughts. "As I was saying, we could stay here and explore the scenic delights of suburban Schenectady and hope that Fury guy got blown to bits along with the building but since bad guys always come back in the next issue with superior firepower, we should probably get while the getting's good."  
  
"Um..." Steve exchanges looks with Clint who shrugs, equally confused.  
  
"How hard do you figure it is for him to rewire one of those Spider Slayer gizmos and make it a Captain America Slayer?" Deadpool wonders aloud.  
  
"Should we be worried that he's making sense?" Clint asks Steve.  
  
Get it together, Rogers, he tells himself. No little yellow box necessary. Or maybe there is one, if he's talking to himself like this. "I wouldn't imagine it to be very difficult at all. Have you used that thing to teleport more than one person before, Deadpool?"  
  
"It's just like the transporter on Star Trek, Cap," Deadpool assures him, wrapping a hand tightly around their upper arms. "You've seen Star Trek, right? Since I'm the only one of us wearing a red shirt, you two should be just fine. Three to beam up, Scotty!"  
  
Unfortunately, Steve understands that cultural reference perfectly.  
  
   
  
00000000000000000000  
  
   
  
"You really put the 'I' in team, don't you?" Natasha asks.  
  
Matt doesn't answer. He knew she followed him from the Tower back to Hell's Kitchen and in a way, it's flattering, knowing that she has his back. Her scolding? Well, that's flattering too.  
  
She settles next to him on the rooftop, her breathing calm and even, despite chasing him acrosss Hell's Kitchen. "What makes you think Kaine isn't in Queens where the Watson girl is?"  
  
"Sam hasn't seen him."  
  
"Eavesdropping on my comm link? You should use one of your own."  
  
"Too distracting having all that noise in my ear."  
  
There's the faintest puff of air to express her exasperation. "You know Jessica's going to be right on your heels when she realizes you're gone."  
  
Matt smiles. In the brief time he's known Peter, he's learned a few useful things about the boy's abilities, including how his healing factor works. "It's a good thing her body requires sleep to heal then. By the time she wakes up, I'll have taken care of Kaine."  
  
"Really? You can take down the combined abilities of Spider-man and the Winter Soldier?" Natasha asks skeptically. "I'd like to see that."  
  
"Obviously or you wouldn't be here."  
  
"Maybe I just like seeing how your ass looks in that suit."  
  
Damn. She knows exactly how to get to him. "And maybe you agree that Kaine's going to come here, looking to finish the job he started on Jessica."  
  
"She's a threat to his broader objectives," Natasha agrees, twisting around and -- dear God, she really is admiring his ass, isn't she? "The primary objective is taking out Barnes and the secondary objective is Mary Jane Watson. All the clones have Parker's memories and feelings about the Watson girl, Jessica included. She's competition and she has to be eliminated."  
  
"If he's got Barnes' command of his abilities, he could smell me all over her."  
  
"That's a very disturbing way of putting it."  
  
Matt shrugs. "That doesn't make it any less true. She's been in my apartment, sleeping in my bed, wearing my clothes and using my toiletries. She smells like me and that means Kaine's going to come here, looking for her."  
  
"And you're going to get pounded into red paste if you try to take him on by yourself," Natasha warns. "We need Steve, Barnes or Tony for this. Do you want to orphan Jessica the same day you adopted her?"  
  
"Adoption is a legal process --"  
  
"I'm beginning to see Clint's point about you," she cuts him off. "You're one stubborn son of a bitch."  
  
"I'm flattered to be the topic of your conversations regardless of the slander," Matt tells her with a wry grin.  
  
"I believe truth is a defense to slandering a public figure," Natasha counters, citing the law perfectly, and he can't help but wonder how she knew that. Or if she knows how much he likes it. Or if that's why she bothered learning it in the first place. She leans in, her lips almost brushing his. "If you want to live long enough to be the topic of conversations that you and I have together, do the right thing."  
  
He's about to answer when he hears two slow, thumping heartbeats four blocks away. They're on a collision course and they're moving almost faster than he can track. "Call Tony," Matt says, just as he hears a cry of pain. "Kaine's here and he's killing another clone."  
  
"Thank God," Natasha mutters. "Tony, do you copy?"  
  
There's no answer. The comm link is dead.  
  
"Kaine is part Barnes," Matt says slowly, "as well as part Peter."  
  
"Barnes knows how to jam transmissions." She tenses and prepares to jump across to the next roof. "JARVIS will alert Tony that we're off the grid which means all we have to do is keep Kaine busy until he gets here. Let's hope we live long enough to see that happen."  
  
Foggy is never going to let him hear the end of this.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter cracks open his eyes, peeks in the side view mirror and then cranes his neck to look out the windows. "It's weird. You'd figure Fury'd go all out to come after me. We've been driving for what? Forty minutes? And there's not even a sign -- Holy crap!"
> 
> And there it is. A sign. Flashing in big electronic letters, telling every passing motorist that an Amber Alert has been issued for fifteen year old Peter Parker, last seen in a 1998 black Mazda MX-3.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For my non-US readers: an Amber Alert is a missing child alert.

Chapter 15  
  
   
  
"I'm not sure this is working," Peter says, at last. He's been concentrating, concentrating on not concentrating and everything in between. "I haven't gotten so much as a tingle since that guy in the panel truck was about to cut us off."  
  
"That was helpful," Bucky tells him, as they merge onto Route 7. "You're doing fine, Petey."  
  
Peter cracks open his eyes, peeks in the side view mirror and then cranes his neck to look out the windows. "It's weird. You'd figure Fury'd go all out to come after me. We've been driving for what? Forty minutes? And there's not even a sign -- Holy crap!"  
  
And there it is. A sign. Flashing in big electronic letters, telling every passing motorist that an Amber Alert has been issued for fifteen year old Peter Parker, last seen in a 1998 black Mazda MX-3.  
  
"Oh my God," Peter moans. "Every cop in the state is going to be looking for us." Hand trembling he ignores Bucky's death glare and turns the radio on, switching it to the New York all-news station but keeping the volume low. They don't have to wait long before they hear the story about Peter's kidnapping by twenty-nine year old convicted sexual predator James Barnes who is believed to be armed and dangerous. "Why would he do that?"  
  
Bucky jabs the button, turning off the radio. "Smart move. Get the locals to spot us, chase us and wear us down. Corner us. Then Fury swoops in and picks us up."  
  
"B-but ..."  
  
Pale blue eyes slant in his direction but all Bucky does is raise an eyebrow. Then he turns his attention back to the road. "We need to change cars. Then we stick to local roads where there are fewer cameras. 'S gonna take us longer to get to the bunker but we'll get there, Petey."  
  
Peter nods and as if he doesn't have enough worries, it occurs to him that his kidnapping has made the news. "Aunt May --"  
  
"Is bein' looked after by the others. All that news story tells her is that you're with me and if you're with me, she knows I'm keepin' you safe."  
  
He settles back in his seat and then groans again when he realizes something. "It's on the news!"  
  
"Yes," Bucky says and the tone in his voice says he's dangerously close to losing his patience. "It's on the news."  
  
"It is!" Peter insists. "Everybody thinks I've been kidnapped by a pervert."  
  
"Your point, Petey?"  
  
"My entire school is going to know about it," Peter moans. "Puny Parker and the pervert!"  
  
Bucky whips his head around, glaring at Peter so hard that he shrinks back in his seat. "This is what you're worried about?"  
  
"Um... Well... You know you're the pervert in that scenario," Peter says in a small voice.  
  
"I've got bigger problems and so do you."  
  
"Clearly you've forgotten what high school is like."  
  
Bucky snarls at him, teeth bared. "Be quiet, Petey, or I swear I'll toss you in the damn trunk."  
  
Peter nods, closes his eyes and tries to focus on using his spider-sense instead of thinking about all the jokes he's going to have to endure. Assuming he lives long enough to go back to school, that is. "How is it we keep fighting these HYDRA guys and they never seem to go away?"  
  
"Cut off one head, two more take its place," Bucky mutters, pulling into a strip mall. He finds a spot at the far end of the lot next to a white sedan and angles out of the car, eyes in constant motion as he gestures for Peter to follow. "You know how to hot wire a car, Petey?"  
  
"Um, no."  
  
"C'mere." Before Peter can protest, Bucky uses his left hand to grasp him by the arm and tug him around to the car's driver side door. "You need to learn this. Watch." He grips the door handle with his right hand and wrenches the door open. Reaching inside the car, he smacks the piece of plastic underneath the steering column, knocking it loose and exposing the wires beneath. "Touch this one to this one."  
  
The car roars to life.  
  
"Get in, punk."  
  
By the time Peter circles to the passenger side, Bucky is behind the wheel and Peter's door is open.  
  
"I picked an older car because it was less likely to have an alarm. If there is an alarm, you look for the fuse box." He points to a panel next to the steering column. "And you pull the one that's warm."  
  
Peter nods numbly.  
  
"We don't have time to swap out the plates but we will in fifteen minutes when we grab our next car. Why will we do that, Petey?"  
  
"I-it makes it harder to trace the car?"  
  
"That's right. Never pick a flashy car especially when you're being tailed or chased. Look for one that blends in but has a powerful engine," Bucky lectures. "This one has a V-6 engine and it's an Altima, a very common make and model but one that's less likely to break down and gets good mileage. You need to learn this stuff because it can save your life."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"When stealing a car," Bucky goes on, "look for common colors like white or silver. Black if you're in a pinch. Never take anything memorable. No flashy colors, no fancy extras and no visible body damage. Got me?"  
  
Peter swallows. "Um, yeah."  
  
"You know how to drive?"  
  
"Dude, I'm only fifteen! I'm not allowed to get a learner's permit until I'm sixteen and even then I don't think I can afford Driver's Ed."  
  
Bucky snorts with disgust. "Kids in third world countries can drive as soon as their feet can reach the pedals. I'll teach you. You know anything at all about cars?"  
  
"Just that we stole our second one in forty minutes."  
  
"Cars are machines and most of 'em are run by computers these days. You like machines and computers, right Petey?" Bucky reaches past Peter and pops open the glove compartment, pulling out a small book that he drops in Peter's lap. "That's an owner's manual. There's more technical books out there but this'll give you a general idea of the parts of a car and what they do. Start reading and when you're done, I'll quiz you on some of the basics."  
  
"Are you trying to keep me busy or something?" Peter asks suspiciously.  
  
"Yes."  
  
Peter blinks. He expected a denial or a deflection. "Why?"  
  
"Because I need you to be calm right now and I also need you to learn how to take care of yourself in case we have to split up." Bucky slants a look at him. "You're gonna hot wire the next car, Petey."  
  
"B-but --"  
  
"No. You're gonna do it. That's the first piece of tradecraft I'm teaching you."  
  
"Tradecraft?" Peter echoes. "Spy stuff?"  
  
"That's right. Spy stuff," Bucky says firmly. "You're gonna learn everything I know. By the time I'm done with you, Petey, nobody's gonna come after you again. They'll be too afraid of you to try."  
  
"I don't want people to be afraid of me."  
  
"Then you're gonna end up in a lab somewhere on the wrong end of the experiment."  
  
Peter's about to retort when his spider-sense doesn't just tingle. It explodes, turning his vision white, then red. He nearly face-plants into the dashboard but Bucky catches him just in time. They hear the sirens half a minute later and Peter twists in his seat to see what looks like every State Trooper and local cop turning into the strip mall they just left behind.  
  
"They're going to figure out we switched cars real fast," Bucky tells him. "Get down and stay down."  
  
Peter ducks down in his seat and his eyes light on the cell phone sitting in the console, left behind by the car's owner. "How far away are we from Pearl River?"  
  
"Over a hundred miles."  
  
"So more than an hour's drive."  
  
"Yeah and we're about to have every cop in New York on our ass," Bucky snaps, pulling a huge gun from the holster strapped to his thigh and laying it on his lap. "Fury's just waiting to pounce, Petey. I'm probably gonna have to shoot our way clear."  
  
"Are you nuts!? You can't shoot at cops!"  
  
"You got a better idea?"  
  
Peter eyes the cell phone again. "Can we hole up somewhere until help arrives?"  
  
"No way of contacting Steve," Bucky reminds him. "Rest of the team's back in the city, dealing with Kaine. And the Quinjet's back in Schenectady so they couldn't come, even if they wanted to. Driving and shooting our way out of trouble are the only options we have."  
  
"I think," Peter says slowly, "that I have another option."  
  
"Yeah? You know somebody with their own Quinjet who lives nearby?"  
  
"As a matter of fact..." Peter snatches the cell phone and launches himself into the backseat, narrowly avoiding Bucky's grasp as he punches in the number from the psychically planted memory. The glare directed at him in the rearview mirror makes his hand shake. "Hi Kitty. It's Peter. Peter Parker. Um, Spider-man. I kind of have a problem I was hoping you guys could help with."  
  
   
  
000000000000000000000000  
  
  
  
The costume doesn't fit.  
  
Foggy is going to be angry.  
  
And she is going to be so very, very grounded.  
  
If this were a multiple choice question, the answer to which of these bother Jessica the most is that the damn costume she stole from Peter's closet doesn't fit, even if it is his old red and blue spandex one. Okay, maybe it's that she webbed Foggy to his chair and gagged him so he couldn't tell anyone she was sneaking out. As for being grounded, that's the least of her problems. Matt's new to the whole parenthood thing, she figures, so he's an amateur compared to an Aunt May/Uncle Ben grounding. Besides, it's not like she's been around him long enough to have any privileges to take away anyway. Except for the web-slinging.  
  
Look at that. She's just gone a whole three minutes thinking of herself as a girl without the idea being reinforced with a stun baton. Jessica makes a mental note to find Rumlow and shove that stun baton where the sun doesn't shine. First things first, she tells herself. Kaine is out there and Matt went looking for him.  
  
Natasha went after Matt.  
  
There's something weird going on between those two but if Matt can land a hottie like Natasha, then Jessica is all for it. Maybe he can even pick a new spider-themed name and the three of them could -- Nah. Too weird. But it is fun to think about.  
  
Her ribs and wrist ache as she swings from Murray Hill towards Hell's Kitchen. The wrist is half-healed and will break again if she's not careful with her web-slinging. She doesn't even want to think about what she's doing to her ribs. At least her healing factor has everything down to a moderate ache instead of a stabbing pain. She can live with that. What she can't live with is the idea of Matt taking on Kaine, even with Natasha backing him up. Not when she spent most of her days at the Zoo having her abilities measured against his and testing the extent of healing factor in between sessions of getting her butt kicked by him.  
  
Just as she crosses Eighth Avenue at 44th Street, high above the heads of the tourists heading into evening performances of Broadway shows, her spider-sense starts to tingle. She clings to a water tower and sees a flash of red followed by a flash of black going in the direction of the West Side Highway. It takes her twenty seconds to find them on 11th Avenue and 47th Street.  
  
By that time, Kaine has snapped the neck of the four-armed clone at his feet and he's toying with Matt and Natasha. She knows he's toying with them because he's not moving nearly as fast as he could and the punch he just landed doesn't break Matt's arm.  
  
Jessica snags Matt's ankle with a web, pulling him out of the way of a vicious kick.  
  
"Jessica --"  
  
"Spider-woman," she corrects him and shoots a jet of webbing at Kaine's feet. "Did you know Kaine's spider-sense isn't as good as mine? "  
  
"Nice to know," Natasha calls, locking her thighs around Kaine's neck and trying to flip him. "Any other helpful hints?"  
  
"He's pulling his punches." Jessica ducks in just as Kaine throws Natasha off, catching him on the jaw with a punch. "Hi, big bro! Remember me?"  
  
"Da," he snarls, kicking her savagely in the ribs. "All dressed up in big brother's clothes, baby girl?"  
  
"I told you," she wheezes, rolling out of the way of another kick and spraying webbing into his face. "Don't call me that."  
  
"And I told you, stay out of my way," Kaine spits, ripping the webbing off. He pivots, swatting Matt aside easily. "You can't sneak up on me, fool."  
  
"Wasn't trying to," Matt gasps. "Just distracting you until the cavalry got here."  
  
The cavalry arrives with a repulsor blast that knocks Kaine off his feet. "Hiya kids! Uncle Tony is here!"  
  
Kaine rolls with the blast, pulling a gun from the holster strapped to his thigh. A burst of energy hits Tony's armor short circuiting it and sending Tony plummeting to the rooftop. "Like that? It's a little something HYDRA made just for you, Uncle Tony." He lashes out with his arm, just as Natasha lunges for him. "Sorry, Auntie Nat."  
  
Jessica takes advantage of Natasha's distraction, knocking Kaine off-balance from behind while Matt comes in from the side, aiming for the nerve cluster in Kaine's arm, rendering it useless. It's not enough to stop him. He sweeps them both aside with ease and launches himself over the side of the building.  
  
"No," Jessica mutters, following him. "You're not getting away."  
  
Her spider-sense tingles, warning her just in time as Kaine launches himself up as she's coming down. They collide in mid-air and she feels her ribs break again. Kaine starts to laugh and she shuts him up by pressing her hand to his mouth and giving him a mouthful of webbing. They crash to the sidewalk below, with Kaine frantically trying to clear his airway and Jessica intent on giving him the beating of his life while he does.  
  
Finally, Kaine's eyes roll back and he collapses.  
  
"Oh, thank God." Jessica heaves a sigh of relief and passes out on top of him.  



	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter the Ultimate X-Men (or a few of 'em anyway).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are the Ultimate X-Men but I've tried to make them a bit more likeable than they were in canon, though I've stayed true to certain unsavory things like Jean poking around in heads without permission.

Chapter 16  
  
  
  
"Um... so they're gonna pick us up in seven minutes," Petey says as he does the smart thing and chucks the cell phone out the window without being told to do it. He's carefully avoiding making eye contact with Barnes in the rearview mirror.  
  
"They?" It's a struggle to keep his voice neutral when he wants to reach back, haul the kid over the seat and shake some sense into him. "Petey, what did you do?"  
  
"Um... I kind of called the X-Men and asked them to pick us up in their Blackbird." It comes out sounding more like a question than a statement. "Marvel Girl is tracking me telepathically."  
  
"Telepathically."  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
"The X-Men."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Seven minutes."  
  
"Th-they have a Blackbird." Petey repeats and swallows nervously. "See? Now we don't have to get into a firefight with law enforcement and we'll get away without leaving a big trail for them to follow."  
  
Barnes doesn't know much about the X-Men or mutants in general, except what he's seen in the news. If he ever had dealings with mutants, those memories have been burned out of his mind. He doesn't like unknown variables being added to his mission parameters. Deadpool was problem enough. Now he has to worry about mutants. Still, the cops are close behind them and the kid is right about avoiding the undue attention and problems involved in shooting their way out. He scowls at Petey anyway as he turns off the highway and onto a county road. "Next time, you clear something like that with me first, understand?"  
  
"Sorry, Bucky."  
  
And of course, the kid actually is sorry, which is a good thing because Barnes knows that the kid's plans don't work more often than they do. He's heard the stories where Petey's gotten knocked out, unmasked and he's seen Petey drag himself home beaten to hell and back after jumping into a fight without having any specific strategy. Scowl firmly in place, he pulls Petey's mask out of the pocket of his vest and tosses it over the seat to him. "You might wanna quit leavin' that lying around or have Stark attach it to your suit, the way he attaches Stevie's cowl."  
  
"They know my identity," Petey says with a sigh. "I got knocked out and they unmasked me."  
  
Barnes resists the temptation to roll his eyes because, of course they did. "Kid, maybe we need to figure out who *doesn't* know your identity." They drive in silence for the next few minutes as the sun starts to set and fog starts to roll in. He doesn't mind the fog much. It makes it harder for cops and concerned citizens to spot them. On the other hand, it'll make them that much harder to spot from a Blackbird. "Petey --"  
  
"They're overhead."  
  
"What?"  
  
"The fog," Petey explains. "That's Storm's doing. Pull over."  
  
Barnes pulls over and gets out of the car, trying to wrap his head around a mutant who can make fog appear. Was he programmed to deal with this? Did weather-controlling mutants even figure into the things HYDRA wanted their soldier to handle? His hand hovers over the gun holstered at his side, though he's pretty sure it's not going to be of much use against mutants. Not that they're supposed to be the enemy, according to Petey.  
  
"Easy, James. We're all friends here," a soft feminine voice says. He whirls, gun drawn, and sees that the voice belongs to a pretty young redhead, who's not wearing very much in the way of clothing -- at least to his eyes -- and a smirk. "Hi, I'm Jean and this is Storm."  
  
Storm is quite possibly one of the most attractive women Barnes has ever seen in his life. At least that he can remember. Like Jean, she isn't wearing much either but what she's wearing hugs her curves perfectly. She smiles at him and then he feels wind lifting him up into the waiting Blackbird, where Petey is already deep in conversation with some young girl who's making Bambi eyes at him.  
  
Before he can say a word, Barnes feels the eyes of a predator on his back and turns, knives in each hand, ready to defend Petey and himself.  
  
"Easy, bub. We've done that dance before and it didn't end up so good for either of us," says a short, hairy man. Unlike the women, he's not exposing skin unnecessarily and is wearing some sort of skin-tight black and gold uniform with an X on the belt buckle. Everything about the guy says he's dangerous. Very, very dangerous.  
  
Barnes curses HYDRA for the umpteenth time because, really, it would be helpful to know if he's pissed off somebody this deadly and let the guy live. He lowers the knives, eyes narrowed and teeth bared, letting short and hairy know that's he's a predator too. Just because he doesn't remember the dance doesn't mean he won't tango again to protect Petey.  
  
"He doesn't remember, Wolverine," the redhead says, stepping between them. "His memories have been tampered with." Her green eyes are sympathetic as she looks up at Barnes. "We can help you with that, James."  
  
"Is that so?" Wolverine asks, all mock-innocence. "So he doesn't remember what happened in Alberta?"  
  
"No," Petey says firmly as he gets into Wolverine's space, fists on his hips and head cocked to one side. "He doesn't and you know he was under HYDRA's control, right?"  
  
The predator's eyes narrow at Petey. "What's he to you?"  
  
"Family." Petey lets the word hang for a moment, so they can all digest it. "I'm sorry if you two don't have the best history but Bucky's one of the good guys now. Just like you, Logan. If you can get a second chance, he deserves one, too."  
  
"Bucky?" The young girl with the Bambi eyes blinks up at him. "Ohmigod. *Bucky* Barnes. Captain America's side --"  
  
"Best friend," Petey cuts her off. "The other thing was some cheesy 1960s TV show. And he's, uh, also the Winter Soldier. Bucky, this is Kitty Pryde."  
  
Barnes forces himself to nod back at her. He's starting to feel his control slipping with all the added stress and unknown variables.  
  
Kitty nudges Peter. "Did you know that Bucky and the Howling Commandos liberated a concentration camp, even before Captain America arrived in Germany?"  
  
"Uh --"  
  
"There's a memorial plaque at the Gan Dafna Kibbutz in Israel," she goes on. "It was founded by a group of the rescued Jews after they immigrated to Palestine and --"  
  
"Gee, that's interesting," Petey cuts her off, catching Barnes' tense expression and moving close enough to do his human stress ball imitation for Barnes, who grips his shoulders. "We should talk about that later. When, you know, Nick Fury isn't trying to lock me up and throw away the key."  
  
Jean stares thoughtfully at Peter. "You've had a horrible day, haven't you?"  
  
Petey narrows his eyes at her. "Did you just read my mind and tell everybody else what happened today?"  
  
"I thought it would be less traumatic for you." Her gaze ticks over to Barnes. "You seem stressed, James, and you're hurting Peter's shoulders when you squeeze that hard. I can calm you much faster --"  
  
"Y-you can't just go rummaging around in our heads like that," Peter snaps angrily. "Especially Bucky's! He's had enough people playing around in there!"  
  
"I needed to, sweetheart," the redhead coos at him. "I had to know where we were going and what kind of trouble we were likely to find ourselves tangled up in."  
  
"You could have just asked," Barnes growls at her.  
  
"It's not that we don't trust you, bub," Wolverine growls back. He leaves the rest of the thought unspoken but implied. "The kid trusts you and I owe him, so I'm gonna back his play. Especially since it involves sticking it to Fury." His eyes narrow. "The only part of the plan I ain't so happy about is Deadpool."  
  
Barnes thinks about the explosive charges Deadpool set and stares Wolverine down. "Deal with it. He's one of us."  
  
"God, could the two of you let up for, like, a minute?" Petey complains, rolling his eyes.  
  
"I'm choking on all the testosterone," Kitty agrees.  
  
"I wouldn't mind," Storm says slowly, eyeing Barnes, "if you two boys decide to see whose is bigger."  
  
Barnes feels his cheeks burn in what is his second blush since he's come out from under HYDRA's thumb. The first was from being kissed by Aunt May. This, however, is most definitely not that. He has a vague notion that he used to be able to talk to dames, that Stevie was the awkward one. And yet here he is, blushing like a virgin schoolboy with no idea what to say.  
  
"Uh, you guys don't have to get involved at all," Petey says, breaking the tension. "All we needed was a lift to the bunker --"  
  
"You think you know what you need, you wet-behind-the-ears little punk?" Wolverine explodes and Barnes finds himself agreeing with him. "Lemme break it down for you, kid. Fury just announced to all comers there's a buy one, get one deal on super soldiers. He's banking on getting you first but you ask me, ol' Nicky's bein' more than a little overconfident."  
  
Damn, just when Barnes was starting to settle into hating this guy, he goes and makes sense.  
  
"My healing factor's my mutation," Wolverine goes on. "Yours is chemical and the guys makin' the MGH would love to be able to add that to their product."  
  
"MGH?" Barnes echoes.  
  
"Mutant Growth Hormone," Jean puts in. "In the past, we've worked with Director Fury to shut down as many operations as he could find but it's been harder lately. We believe Magneto may be sponsoring some of the efforts as well. Professor Xavier asked us to help keep Peter safe."  
  
Wolverine raises an eyebrow.  
  
Barnes nods.  
  
Truce.  
  
   
  
000000000000000000  
  
   
  
"Are you sure those restraints will hold him?" Matt asks.  
  
"It's the restraints or putting him in the Hulk's playpen with the Scorpion and seeing which one kills the other first," Tony says, tightening the restraints around Kaine. "And it's not like I can put the Scorpion anywhere else either. It may come as a shock to you, Murdock, but when Pepper and I designed the Tower, we didn't think we'd be holding prisoners here. I think that might actually be illegal. You're the lawyer. You tell me."  
  
Matt is too busy focusing on Kaine's breathing and heartbeat to explain the concept of false imprisonment. Not that it matters. Kaine isn't likely to sue or press charges.  
  
"Speaking of the clones, your Spider-girl --"  
  
"Her name is Jessica and she prefers being called Spider-woman."  
  
" -- needs a better suit than Peter's old cast-off," Tony continues as if Matt didn't say a word. "Good thing you couldn't see that, buddy. I mean, she wore it well enough but it was tight in all the wrong places."  
  
Matt tilts his head in Tony's direction. It's classic Tony,  being an ass while simultaneously doing something generous. "I'm sure that offended your aesthetics."  
  
"Not as much as it'll offend Pepper's when she gets wind of it. You don't mind if she helps design something for whatsername, right?"  
  
The inference of that statement is that Pepper has already gotten wind and has given Tony his marching orders. Pepper, Matt decides, is his favorite Avenger. "I'll gladly cede creative control to Pepper. After all, I am blind."  
  
"And yet you're surprisingly well-dressed. For your budget, I mean," Tony muses. "Those two suits you own are --"  
  
"I own four." Matt doesn't add that Landman and Zack paid its interns extremely well and that it expected them to dress as well as the partners. "Is there a point to this?"  
  
Tony shrugs. "Just making conversation. How do you think Peter's going to take it when you tell him you've decided to adopt his clone?"  
  
"Adoption is a legal process -- " Matt starts to explain, though by now he's starting to get the sense that nobody cares about the legality of what he's doing with Jessica.  
  
"Adoption is a record that can be created, just like creating a birth record, school record and anything else she needs. All I'd have to do is hack into various municipal systems, which will take me about five minutes. After that, if hacking the federal government offends you, you can actually apply for a Social Security number the old fashioned way. What I want to know is... Do you want me to do that?" Tony shifts slightly. "Are you prepared for Peter's reaction? For his aunt's reaction? Is this what the girl wants, assuming she even wants to be a girl?"  
  
"Have you been talking to Foggy?"  
  
"Foggy's a very smart man. What he's doing with you is a mystery."  
  
"Foggy has very discerning taste," Natasha says. Tony startles at her approach but Matt doesn't. "Matt, why don't you go check on Jessica? Tony and I can watch over Kaine."

Matt focuses his senses on Kaine once more. Steady heartbeat, steady breathing. Not conscious or so good at faking it that even Matt can't tell the difference. Nobody but Stick was ever that good but it's taught Matt that unconsciousness can be faked, even to his senses. "Are those restraints secure?"

"I designed them for Barnes," Tony says. "I'd say they're fine. The bigger question is what do we do with him in the longer run? We can't keep him strapped to a bed and I'll be damned if we turn him over to Fury. I don't trust that sonofabitch."  
  
"He's the only one with access to the kind of secure facility we need," Natasha points out.  
  
"He's also the one who sponsored the super soldier experiments that created Spider-man and led to this mess." Matt can almost hear Tony's scowl. "The thing is, while I could build another Hulk-proof cell, I didn't sign up to be a jailer either."  
  
"We have a short-term solution," Matt says, forcing himself to be more logical than he feels. "We have the luxury of time to work out something longer term. Assuming your restraints are as good as you say."  
  
"They are."  
  
"Then we have time."  
  
Unless Kaine is faking.  
  
Unless Kaine wanted to be captured and brought to the Tower.  
  
And if the restraints aren't as strong as Tony thinks...  
  
The Catholic in him has faith. The lawyer in him knows how to question assumptions.  
  
"Go," Tony says. "We have this."  
  
Matt hopes he's right.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "So maybe he's not really Nick Fury," Deadpool suggests. "Maybe he's a clone. It seems to be going around."
> 
> "Does that mean we have to rescue Nick Fury from HYDRA?" Peter asks.

Chapter 17  
  
   
  
"Barnes and the kid are here," Clint announces from his vantage point in the bunker's ventilation system. Steve has no idea how the man instinctively knew that the vents would give him a view to the outside world but he's grateful nonetheless. "They've brought some X-Men with 'em."  
  
"Some X-Men?" Steve echoes. He looks up from the cache of weapons and ammunition that he's been inventorying with Deadpool. "What do you me --?"  
  
Before he can finish the question, Deadpool races to the door, flinging it open without waiting for Bucky's coded knock. "Wolvie! My man! It is so good to see you again!"  
  
"Shut it," snarls the man Steve immediately recognizes as Wolverine. He's exactly what Steve expects based on Fury's endless briefings -- short, angry and exuding an air of danger. Wolverine's eyes flick over Steve, travel to Clint and then go back to Steve again, narrowing. "You're younger than I expected."  
  
"You're an inch shorter than Fury said you were," Clint shoots back, dropping down from the vent.  
  
The two women and young girl roll their eyes as they stroll casually into the bunker, as if they are unimpressed by two Avengers and Deadpool. Then again, from what he knows about the X-Men, they probably aren't impressed in the least.  
  
Bucky and Peter bring up the rear. The angry scowl on Bucky's face speaks volumes about how he feels at the moment. He shoves Peter towards Steve. "Go brief your CO, punk."  
  
"But --"  
  
"This is your play, not mine," Bucky tells him firmly. "You deviated from the plan, you explain yourself."  
  
Peter twitches and then stares up at Steve with wide, nervous eyes. "So, um, things sort of happened."  
  
The women snort with laughter and the young girl shoots them an annoyed look before turning her attention back to Peter. Wolverine and Clint exchange amused smirks with Bucky.  
  
"Start at the beginning," Steve says gently before narrowing his eyes at the lot of them. If it weren't for the fact that he has no idea what's going on, he wouldn't put Peter on the spot this way after what the boy's been through today. Still, if Bucky is that irritated with Peter... "What happened after we split up?"  
  
"Bucky stole a car," Peter begins. "After that, it was, uh, quiet. At least until the Amber Alert got issued."  
  
"Here." The girl bounces up to Steve and thrusts a StarkPhone under his nose. "Director Fury planted a story about Bucky being an Iraq vet with a criminal record for child molestation who abducted Peter from his home in Forest Hills."  
  
Steve takes the phone and stares down at the Amber Alert and the fake mug shots and military identification photos of Bucky before passing it to Clint. "Thank you..."  
  
"Kitty." She flashes a smile up at him and instead of shaking his hand, her hand passes through his as if she were a ghost. "I'm Shadowcat."  
  
"Um, so then Bucky taught me how to hot wire the next car we took," Peter goes on, ducking his head and looking embarrassed. "But the cops were right behind us and they were probably going to catch us so, uh ---"  
  
"He called us for help." The pretty redhead smiles at Steve. "We just happen to have a Blackbird and Peter's been a good friend to us. Airlifting him and James out of harm's way was the least we could do." She ruffles Peter's hair. "I'm Jean Grey, also called Marvel Girl. That's Ororo or Storm, if you prefer and that scowling sweetheart over there is Wolverine."  
  
"You know," Deadpool muses, rubbing a gloved hand against his masked chin, "if you wanted to get your super soldiers and your Weapon X alumni in one place --"  
  
"Shut your flamin' mouth," Wolverine interrupts him.  
  
Steve frowns in thought. "That actually makes sense."  
  
"And that doesn't worry you?" Wolverine asks. "If you've known him more than five minutes, it oughtta."  
  
Bucky's posture goes rigid. "I told you Deadpool was okay."  
  
"Your funeral, bub."  
  
"Boys, if you don't settle down, I'll have you thinking you're toddlers for the rest of the mission," Jean warns them. She blows out a frustrated breath and then turns back to Steve. "They have some sort of history together that neither of them completely remembers. I'm starting to think it was a love affair gone wrong, the way they're going at each other."  
  
Steve feels his cheeks flush. "Um..."  
  
"Did I embarrass you, Captain?" Her green eyes are twinkling with amusement. "My apologies."  
  
"Like I was saying before the validity of my opinion was called into question, I don't know this Fury guy very well," Deadpool says, cocking his head to one side as he looks at Wolverine. "But the thing is, he's gone to a lot of trouble to catch Spidey-boy. He built these robot Spidey killer things and he's got special Spidey stun guns. He's using the media to hunt Spidey down and he's as much as declared war on the Avengers." He turns to Steve. "You know Nick Fury. Does that sound like something he'd do?"  
  
"It really doesn't," Clint frowns. "The Spider Slayer and nerve guns, yeah, that was definitely him but the rest? Showing up and threatening to throw the kid in a dark hole somewhere? That's not the Fury I know."  
  
"So maybe he's not really Nick Fury," Deadpool suggests. "Maybe he's a clone. It seems to be going around."  
  
"Does that mean we have to rescue Nick Fury from HYDRA?" Peter asks.  
  
"No," Steve says slowly as the pieces start to come together. "We have to rescue Fury from AIM."  
  
"Oh man, I hate those guys!" Deadpool complains.  
  
"What's an AIM?" Kitty asks Peter.  
  
He shrugs. "I swear I do not know. Is this a thing now? Do all the bad guys have stupid acronyms?"  
  
"AIM is HYDRA's competition," Bucky tells them. "Advanced Idea Mechanics. I think..."  
  
"You did. You've crossed paths several times," Jean tells him quietly. "Do you want to access those memories?"  
  
Bucky narrows his eyes at her. "Get out of my head, doll."  
  
"I wasn't in there, sweet boy. You're broadcasting your thoughts as loudly as if you were shouting through a megaphone. It's actually hard keeping you out of *my* head, fragmented and chaotic as your memories are." She turns to Steve. "I'm sorry, you were about to say something about AIM?"  
  
"Are you always this invasive, miss?" Steve asks, laying on the politeness that he doesn't feel.  
  
Jean matches his polite tone. "I try not to be but it seems you super soldiers think louder than normal people." She meets his gaze, letting him know she's heard every bit of his disapproval and then flashes a smile in Peter's direction. "Except for one of you, that is, but then Peter's spider sense has its roots in telepathic and empathic abilities, so it isn't surprising."  
  
Steve stares at Peter, digesting that bit of information before returning to the topic at hand. He recites the history from the files he's read. "AIM, as its name suggests, focuses on world domination through science whereas HYDRA uses science as a tool, along with intelligence and military might. Until the late 1940s, AIM was the tech arm of HYDRA when they split off. Since then, the two have been competing, with SHIELD getting caught in the middle more than once. It makes sense that if HYDRA had the competitive edge in recreating super soldiers through any means, AIM would infiltrate and shut that operation down, stealing the science for themselves. It certainly explains how the clones at the Zoo escaped."  
  
"Who comes up with this stuff?" Peter asks, shaking his head. "It sounds like the plot of a really bad movie."  
  
Deadpool drapes his arm around Peter and then makes a frame with his hands. "Then let's make the plot more interesting. Suppose they don't just shut down HYDRA? Suppose they get you? Think of all the nifty mad scientist experiments they could do if they had their own Spidey? I mean, think about it. They'd have blood, spinal fluid, brain tissue, semen -- a veritable smorgasbord of Spidey bits that your healing factor regenerates for them so the supply is endless. Now it's a B-Movie, right?"  
  
"Uh --"  
  
"But wait, there's more. Let's say they use HYDRA's Spidey clones to corner the market on all the awesome super soldier abilities, like capturing me so they can have my healing factor." Deadpool sweeps his arm towards Bucky, gesturing grandly. "And then, how about really sticking it to HYDRA by stealing their secret weapon? Maybe even reprogramming him and using him against HYDRA? See? Now we've got a summer blockbuster on our hands instead of Human Centipede 7."  
  
"It's hard to tell if he's brilliant or nuts," Wolverine says, shaking his head, "especially when he's making sense like that."  
  
"These AIM guys are all scientists?" Storm asks Steve.

"Mostly, ma'am. They do have some enforcer types."

She nods sagely. "Lab rats. Geeks."  
  
"Yep," Deadpool agrees. "Never had even the tiniest bit of sex."  
  
"That explains everything."  


 

 


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18  
  
  
  
Peter hates this plan.  
  
It doesn't matter that it's a plan concocted by the Star-Spangled Man with a Plan himself. Peter hates it. Period. The only good part about the plan is that Steve knows exactly how much Peter hates the plan because Jean's linked them telepathically. Of course, Peter hates that part of the plan, too. Bad enough that Jean herself is in his head but now Steve is privy to Peter's every single thought, feeling and sensation.  
  
For example, Steve knows that Peter feels ridiculous wearing Bobby Drake's clothing, with the big X on the shoulder of the jacket and across the chest of the sweatshirt. The borrowed baseball cap, also with a big X -- because really, everything has an X on it -- is set low on his head as he trudges along Route 33, waiting for AIM to spot him and come after him.  
  
That's the other part of the plan Peter hates. He has to let AIM catch him. Sure, he gets to put up a fight but if they want to know where Nick Fury is stashed, he has to be taken. He hates that part of the plan the most. There's no guarantee they'll take him wherever they took Fury, either but Steve said it didn't matter. Wherever he gets taken, they'll have access to that information, either in AIM's databases or in the heads of the AIM creeps themselves. Oh, and Steve swears he'll be there before anything bad can happen to Peter.  
  
Besides, as Bucky so helpfully pointed out, it's not like he hasn't been knocked unconscious, unmasked and taken captive before. He has. Several times. This is what Peter gets for telling Spidey stories to Bucky when he couldn't sleep.  
  
Peter shivers, even though he's not really cold. It's a cool, crisp fall night and he can think of a million places he'd rather be and things he'd rather be doing instead of playing sitting duck to rescue Nick Fury, of all people. He's not even sure he likes Nick Fury.  
  
His spider sense tingles as a set of headlights approach and Peter wonders if Steve and Jean can feel that too. It takes effort not to react, not to leap over the railing and run as the car slows and comes up alongside him.  
  
"You lost son?"  
  
Peter stops, swallows and finds himself face to face with the Pearl River police. "M-my name is Peter Parker and --"  
  
"On your knees and hands behind your head," the cop in the passenger seat orders as the one in the driver's seat gets out silently and points a gun at him. The silent cop is huge and so is his gun. It doesn't look like regular police issue but maybe they do things differently in Pearl River, Peter thinks.  
  
"I-I'm the missing kid," Peter tries again, getting down on his knees. "The Amber Alert kid?"  
  
It doesn't matter. He's handcuffed, frisked and thrown into the back of the cruiser without a word. Things get even weirder when the cops don't call in that they've found him. Instead, the silent one sends a text message on his phone before pulling back onto the road. How, Peter wonders, did AIM manage to buy the cops in this town so quickly? Or maybe they and HYDRA own cops everywhere? Then again, they infiltrated SHIELD... Ugh! Best not to think about these things, he decides.  
  
Slumping down in the back of the police cruiser, Peter isn't surprised when they drive right past the police station. That's because his spider sense isn't just tingling now. It's feels like his head is about to split open. His entire body tenses, practically convulsing from the force of his spider sense and the handcuffs snap. Oops.  
  
The cop behind the wheel locks eyes with Peter in the rearview mirror and he looks familiar, even though Peter would swear on his life he's never seen the guy before.  
  
_Georges Batroc. Mercenary. Be careful._  
  
Sweet fancy Moses! That's Steve in his head! Steve knows this guy. Steve *fought* this guy. On a ship? Lemurian Star?  
  
The information flow from Steve cuts off abruptly, followed by a soothing sensation that Peter guesses is Jean's doing because his spider sense is blaring, making his vision go red and his stomach protest. At least now he knows why. The danger is sitting in the front seat, separated from him by reinforced steel mesh and bulletproof glass.  
  
They pull off of Route 33 and onto a service road that leads into a light industrial area. It's one-story warehouse after one-story warehouse, most of which are for sale or rent. Finally, they turn into a driveway and pull inside a warehouse bearing the faded sign of Fusco Logistics.  
  
To Peter's surprise, there's no welcoming committee waiting for him.  
  
And then, to his horror, Batroc slashes the air with his hand, snapping the neck of the cop in the passenger seat. He turns to Peter, baring his teeth in a deadly smile and speaks rapidly in French.  
  
"Uh, je m'appelle --"  
  
"Fermez la bouche, petit araignee."  
  
Peter frowns and works out the translation. Shut your mouth, little something.  
  
_Spider_ , Steve supplies.  
  
Because of course Steve knows French.  
  
_The war_ , Steve reminds him.  
  
"Dude, shut up!"  
  
Batroc's eyes narrow.  
  
"Not you! The voice in my head!" Peter feels Jean and Steve wince along with him. He suddenly has a whole new appreciation for Deadpool, who freely admits to hearing voices in his head. Between the embarrassment, his non-stop spider sense and overwhelming frustration with being the bait in this scenario, Peter's had enough. He twists in his seat and kicks the door off the police cruiser and launches himself out of the car. Hey, he's not supposed to go down without a fight, right?  
  
Batroc opens his door and gets out leisurely, like he has all the time in the world. Overconfident jackass. He says something else in French.  
  
"Are you reading me my rights?" Peter asks as they circle each other. "No? How about I read you yours? You have the right to have my foot in your face -- yow!"  
  
Batroc catches Peter's ankle and twists hard before tossing him across the filthy floor.  
  
"Look, the language barrier can be frustrating, I get it." Peter rolls out of the way of another assault. "But you need to at least try communicating before you resort to violence." His ankle is aching, but it's not broken and his healing factor is already kicking in. He bounces to his feet, launching himself over Batroc's next volley of blows. "Why don't we sing a nice round of 'Frere Jacques' and see if we can bridge that communication gap?"  
  
The mercenary is snarling and saying what are probably bad words in French under his breath.  
  
"Okay, you're not much of a singer." Peter dodges the next attack. "How about French fries? Everyone likes French fries, am I right?"  
  
There's a growled response in French that Peter is suddenly able to translate as 'stand still, you little bastard'. When did he learn *that* kind of French?  
  
Oh. Jean. She must have shared Steve's knowledge of French.  
  
Sure, he gets instant knowledge of filthy French but not anything useful like how not to get his ass kicked by a mercenary who doesn't have any kind of super powers, by the way.  
  
Because he's supposed to get his ass kicked.  
  
Right.  
  
He hates this plan.  
   
  
000000000000000000  
  
  
  
"You're grounded."  
  
"You're an idiot." Jessica shifts in the bed with a slight groan as her healing bones grind when she moves. "What were you thinking, going after Kaine by yourself? And also, what privileges are you taking away, exactly? I don't have a phone, I don't have any after school activities, I don't even go to school and I don't have friends my own age who are bad influences on me. Heck, I haven't even started watching bad TV shows yet."  
  
"You don't get to scold me and you're still grounded," Matt tells her firmly and pointedly ignoring the fact that she's right. Damn it all. "You webbed Foggy."  
  
"I apologized when I did it."  
  
"You webbed him to a chair and gagged him," he repeats. "He's not very happy with you. Neither am I. You were supposed to stay here and heal."  
  
"I was almost healed," Jessica counters, sounding as petulant as Peter ever could. "In fact, I'm going to be completely healed in a few more hours."  
  
"You're going to use those few hours trying to think of ways to get back into Foggy's good graces," Matt instructs her as he tries to remember what his father did when he misbehaved. Mostly, his father gave him a good talking to and never once raised his hands or his voice. No, his father used the most lethal weapon of all, guilt. Matt can do guilt. He can do guilt like a pro. After all, he's Catholic. "You just met him and look at the impression you made on him. How is he supposed to trust you?"  
  
"How does he trust you?" Jessica asks.  
  
"This isn't about me." He was not this much trouble when he was a teenager. The nuns wouldn't have stood for it. Well, he was, but they just didn't know. Still...  
  
"Sure it is," she assures him. "He's just as ticked off with you as he is with me. Maybe even more because you sneaked out of here and went after Kaine first. And you used him to do it. Did you apologize to Foggy?"  
  
She has no idea how much he just apologized to Foggy. How much he's going to have to keep apologizing to Foggy. And how, as a result, he has to tell Karen about being Daredevil tomorrow because that's the only thing that appeased Foggy. "You were reckless."  
  
The girl snorts at him.  
  
"Do not," Matt warns her, folding his arms across his chest and doing his best impression of Sister Joan at her strictest.  
  
"Okay, okay," Jessica relents and Matt promises himself that he will make a donation to the orphanage in Sister Joan's memory. "Just at least tell me Kaine's locked up somewhere secure."  
  
"He's secure," Matt says reluctantly. He doesn't believe it himself and sure enough, it doesn't come out convincingly at all. "Tony used restraints."  
  
Jessica's bones scrape together alarmingly as she moves. "Restraints? As in strapped down to something?"  
  
Damn it. Matt focuses and hears Kaine's slow steady heartbeat. Whatever he's doing, he's not exerting himself at all. He may even really be unconscious, though Matt sincerely doubts it now. Which means he needs to know if Jessica can think of a way for Kaine to escape. "He's strapped to a bed."  
  
"Are you kidding me? Of all the boneheaded..." She grinds her teeth and then there's a tearing sound. "Kaine doesn't have to break the restraints. All he has to do is shred the mattress like I just did and wriggle free."  
  
Matt doesn't even bother telling her not to follow him this time.  
  
After all, she's already grounded.  
  
And he really is an idiot.  
  



	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19  
  
  
  
Peter awakens with a jolt.    
  
No, the jolt wasn't him.  He blinks up, uncomprehending, at a metal ceiling, still groggy from whatever was in that dart he let Batroc hit him with.  There's another jolt and the sensation of moving.  
  
 _Armored truck_ , Steve supplies helpfully.  _And you were hit with enough tranquilizer to take down an elephant.  You've been out for almost an hour._  
  
Good to know he's still got company in his head.  Peter cranes his neck to see that Batroc has company, too.  There are three other guys in tac suits, armed to the teeth, and all watching him.  There are some serious-looking metal restraints running from his wrists up his forearms with a matching set running from ankles to calves.  He's been stripped down to his underwear which is only slightly less humiliating than the fact that he's been muzzled.  Or maybe it's more.  It's too early in his captivity to tell yet.   
  
Steve explains that the clothes were discarded in case there were trackers sewn into them.  
  
Still doesn't make it any less humiliating.  
  
Batroc nudges Peter with the toe of his boot, eyes boring down into his, carefully gauging Peter's reaction.  "The restraints are adamantium, boy, so do yourself a favor and don't bother trying to escape.  You'll hurt yourself and more importantly, we will hurt you."  
  
The next thing Peter knows, his spider sense goes off a split second before his entire body jerks in pain from an electrical shock.  He gasps for breath around the muzzle and tears leak from his eyes.  
  
"Shock collar," Batroc tells him.  "You'll be good for me so I won't have to do that again, yes?"  
  
Peter nods frantically because he's supposed to be pathetic and helpless.  Besides, that hurt like the dickens.  
  
"Good, we understand each other."  The mercenary squats next to him, patting the muzzle.  "No more funny jokes from you now, eh, boy?"  
  
"Mmmffffmm," Peter says, shooting a pointed look at Batroc's haircut.  Seriously, what is up with that thing? It looks like a ferret crawled on top of Batty's head and died there.  Maybe he uses Doc Ock's barber because between the two of them, they could start a bad haircut club.  
  
Steve is glad Peter is muzzled because mouthing off like that when he can't fight back is a bad idea.  
  
Peter tells Steve he's a killjoy.  
  
"He's so little," one of the other mercenaries says.  "Reminds me of a boy I bought in Thailand."  
  
"This little fucker is as strong as Captain America and twice as fast," Batroc shoots back.  "If anybody bothered to train him, I'd never have been able to take him by myself.  And don't even think about using him like your little Thai boy, LaMarre.  Our employers won't like it if their merchandise arrives damaged."  
  
Aaaaaand he is officially grossed out.  
  
Steve is angry.  
  
While the men reminisce about Thailand and other things Peter doesn't want to know about, he rolls onto his side.  He curls up tightly, making himself look even smaller and more helpless while he takes a closer look at the restraints' locking mechanisms.  The seams are hair thin, almost indistinguishable which means the restraints are opened and closed via a radio frequency, rather than a key.  It's impressive technology and brute strength alone isn't going to be enough to free him.   
  
Steve makes note of that information and promises to find a way to get them off.  
  
Apparently Steve doesn't know what Kitty Pryde can do to technology.  
  
Now he does.  
  
Yay, telepathic links and Peter will gladly march in the next Mutant Pride Parade in his Spidey costume.  
  
"Hey boy, you still want to sing songs?" Batroc sneers.  "We have some time to kill, so how about I sing you a lullabye I learned in the Foreign Legion?  Would you like that, little spider?"  
  
There's mocking laughter as Batroc launches into what is the *dirtiest* song Peter's ever heard -- and he's listened to gangsta rap.  Two of the other mercenaries join in and the lyrics get even filthier as they go on.  
  
"Look, he's blushing!"  
  
"That's because he's a virgin."  
  
"Have his balls even dropped yet?"  
  
As embarrassing as it is to know Steve and Jean are listening in to all of this, it's nothing he hasn't heard before from Fisk's guys, Osborn, Ock, Flash, Kong and the rest of the dumb jocks.  He's Spider-man, for God's sake.  Spins webs.  Catches bad guys.  Proportional strength of a spider.  And what does he get instead of respect?  Puberty jokes.  Bad ones.  
  
The dark-skinned mercenary grabs Peter by the collar around his neck, hauling him up.  "Oy, Batroc, you're making him cry."  
  
"He's crying for his mama to come save him," sniggers LaMarre.  
  
Peter thinks he cannot possibly hate this plan more than he does right now.  
  
  
00000000000000  
    
  
Jessica thinks she cannot possibly more disgusted with Tony Stark than she is right now.  How can someone that smart be so short-sighted?  Really, what kind of genius thinks it's a good idea to strap someone with the proportional strength of a spider to a frigging bed?  What happened to force fields or super-sedatives or something a little more scientific and less One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?  
  
Her spider-sense tingles as the emergency lights go on and JARVIS announces, "Kaine has just released the Scorpion, Mister Murdock."  
  
Matt's reaction is immediate and dramatic.  He's like a man possessed as he tears down the flights of stairs that will lead them to the secure, Hulk-proof level.  It's obvious, even to Jessica who's inherited Peter's inability to plan ahead, that he's reacting without thinking.  She vaults over him, blocking his descent and isn't surprised when he simply vaults over her and continues on his way.  
  
Fast as he is, agile as he is, Matt can't do anything except swear loudly when she spins a web from floor to ceiling that blocks his way down.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"What are *you* doing?" Jessica counters.  "Think for a second.  Tony and Natasha are down there.  The Scorpion is loose. JARVIS is sealing off exits.  Do you even have a plan?"  
  
"Planning is over-rated." Matt digs his fingers into the web with a growl of frustration and starts tugging.  "Get this thing out of my way.  Now!"  
  
"So you're going to run head first into *Kaine's* plan?"  
  
As it turns out, Kaine's plan runs head first into them in the form of the Scorpion, hurling his balls of flame that tear through her web.  Jessica pulls Matt out of the way just in time, hooking his arms around her neck as she jumps up three flights of stairs and kicks open the door.  This floor is empty, still under construction for Lord only knows what purpose.  There are tarps hanging, a ladder and electrical wiring dangling from the open ceiling.   At least, Jessica tells herself, there won't be much damage.  
  
"Acid," Matt comments, grabbing Jessica's arm and pulling her sharply to the right just as more balls of flame go flying past.  "They forgot to tell me he can shoot acid.  Is that natural?"  
  
"That's the suit," Jessica says, knocking Matt flat to the floor as more fireballs go overhead.  "He can shoot from his wrists and tail."  
  
"He's also stressed, overwhelmed," Matt murmurs, shoving her off.  "Can he be calmed down?"  
  
"Not that I ever saw.  Doesn't mean I'm not going to try."  She leaps over Matt, landing in front of the Scorpion, hands raised.  "Hi there.  You seem to be lost."  
  
The Scorpion stops in his tracks and cocks his head to the side.  "I-I know your tricks."  
  
"I'm you," Jessica agrees.  "Would you trick yourself?"  
  
The tail thrashes from side to side while he considers her question.  
  
Jessica holds her breath.  
  
"You can't take this away from me!" the Scorpion shouts, lashing out with his tail and shooting flame at her.  
  
In a move that is stunning in its stupidity and recklessness, Matt throws himself at the Scorpion, nearly gettting decapitated by his tail.  They move in a blur, with the Scorpion matching Matt's speed.   Matt lands a blow that would deaden the nerves in the Scorpion's leg if it weren't for the exo-skeleton he's wearing.  Jessica winces because bare fist on Scorpion body armor had to hurt like heck.  Not that it slows Matt down at all.  The man's tolerance for pain boggles her mind.  
  
While Matt keeps up his assault, Jessica snags the Scorpion's  leg with a web, pulling him off balance while Matt kicks him in the ribs.  He really doesn't seem to understand that hitting an exo-skeleton isn't going to damage the Scorpion so much as it's going to break his own bones.  Or maybe he just doesn't care.  It doesn't really matter when the Scorpion throws Matt across the room sending Matt crashing into the shatterproof glass windows.  He slides to the floor in a gasping heap.  
  
It's time to end this before Matt gets really hurt.  Not that he'd want her to know and not that he wants her to protect him.  But still.  He's getting beaten up badly and Kaine is still running around the Tower doing God only knows what.  She looks around for inspiration and comes up with a plan.  And no, planning is not over-rated.  
  
Jessica does a series of flips, kicking the Scorpion as she goes in a way that's intended to irritate more than hurt while she lures him exactly where she wants him.  
  
"Who are you, masked mystery man?" the Scorpion asks, shooting twin fireballs at her.  
  
It takes her a second to understand the reference.  The referee at the wrestling match said it a lifetime ago.  To the real Peter Parker.  "Show yourself to the crowd."  
  
"He said that."  
  
"He did," Jessica agrees.  Just a few more steps.  That's all she needs.  So, of course, she goads him.  "He said it to Peter Parker and you're not him."  
  
The Scorpion lunges, fireballs forgotten in his rage.  He wants to use his hands to throttle her and that means he needs to come in close, just like she wants.  
  
Jessica jumps up, grabs the electrical wires and jams them against the Scorpion's neck.  
  
Nothing happens because the power isn't turned on.  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Matt standing by the circuit breaker.   
  
He smiles as he flips the switch and the voltage makes the Scorpion's body jerk wildly before he falls to the floor, unconscious and smoking.  "See?  I told you planning was over-rated."  
  
  
0000000000000000  
  
  
Barnes hates this plan.    
  
Unfortunately, it's a good plan and it's the only one they've got that will put a halt to this cloning business, at least for a while.  It doesn't stop him from hating it.  He especially hates the part where Petey is intentionally putting himself in danger and that he's not able to be there to cover Petey's six.  If anyone hurts that kid, Barnes promises himself, there's going to be hell to pay.  
  
"They call him Batroc the Leaper," Deadpool says, sidling up to Barnes.    
  
Barnes grunts in acknowledgement.  He heard Steve mention that Petey was taken by some guy named Batroc.  Doesn't matter what Batroc calls himself, he's going to die.  Period. Barnes plans on showing Batroc how much the Winter Soldier does not like the idea of Batroc laying hands on Petey.  
  
"They call him that because he specializes in savate," Deadpool goes on and Barnes has to admit, that's useful intel to have.  "The guy dances around like a prima ballerina.  All he needs is the pink tutu."  
  
"You know him?"  
  
"Are you kidding?  We've been crossing paths for ages.  People who don't hire me end up hiring him and then have to hire me when he screws up the job."  Deadpool sighs, apparently listening to someone who isn't there.  "Okay, fine, I'll tell him.  That only happened once but it did happen.  There.  Are you happy now?"  He shakes his head and blows out an exasperated breath. "The last run-in I had with Batroc, the client double-booked us, figuring we'd kill each other and he wouldn't have to pay."  
  
Barnes raises an eyebrow, intrigued and damn, if he's not warming up to Deadpool and his bizarre stories.  "What happened?"  
  
Deadpool shrugs.  "The usual."'  
  
"What's the usual?"  
  
"I took out the target, took out the client and broke Batroc's leg.  Took him a good six to eight weeks to do any walking after that, forget about leaping."  He looks over to where Steve and Jean are sitting, seemingly staring into space while they monitor Petey telepathically.  "You mind if I call dibs on Batroc?  I figure if I put him out of commission, it means more gigs for me. Unless Captain America lets me become an Avenger.  You think that could happen?  It'd be nice to be a good guy for a change.  People might actually be nice to me.  Not that you're not nice already and Spidey-boy, well, he's nice to everyone.  How did you get to be a good guy, anyway?  Your body count is right up there with mine."  
  
Barnes swallows.  He tries very hard not to think about his body count, which he knows now includes Tony Stark's parents.  
  
"Sergeant Barnes?" A hand wraps itself around Barnes' cybernetic arm and tugs him gently away from Deadpool.  
  
Kitty Pryde is blinking up at him with her huge brown eyes and Barnes knows as surely as he's breathing that Petey asked her to watch out for him.  
  
"Bucky," he tells the kid, even though the only ones who call him Bucky these days are Stevie and Petey.  He's not Bucky anymore, except to them.  And, apparently, to this Kitty kid. "You can call me Bucky."  
  
Her face lights up with a bright smile.  "Can you teach me some tradecraft?  Peter told me about that and I have to admit, I was a little jealous.  The only one we have with that kind of training is Logan and he's more into teaching self-defense."  
  
"Self-defense is important," Barnes tells her and it hasn't escaped his notice that Kitty is trying to be subtle about checking out his arm.  He flexes it so that she can see the plates move while Wolverine watches them talk.  It occurs to Barnes that Wolverine is as protective of Kitty as Barnes is of Petey.  He gives the other man what he hopes is a reassuring nod and gets one in return.    
  
Kitty waits until they're away from the others before saying, "Storm likes you."  
  
"Uh --"  
  
"I'm just saying.  You seem kind of lonely."  
  
"Um..."  
  
"Think about it, okay?"  
  
Barnes nods and waits for the inevitable question about whether Petey likes her.  He doesn't want to have to answer that and break this poor kid's heart, not when she's such a nice girl.  They'd be cute together, too, but so are Petey and Mary Jane.   And then there's that Gwen girl.  He's going to have to teach Petey about girls.  Assuming he can remember about girls, that is.  There is one thing he remembers or almost remembers. "Does Storm like dancin'?"  
  
"She loves to dance," Kitty assures him.  
  
"Maybe I'll ask her to cut a rug with me."  Where the hell did *that* come from?  Damn, but he can remember it now, the way it feels to have a dame's body pressed up against his, swaying to the music.  He thinks he'd like to dance with Storm.  "What are you laughin' at, squirt?"  
  
"Cut a rug?  We're going to have to teach you some new moves."  
  
"Nothin' wrong with my moves, doll."  He's got the kid in his arms and is dancing with her before he even realizes what he's doing.  The movements are every much muscle memory as loading a rifle or any of the other combat skills he's acquired as the Winter Soldier or in the Army before that.  Kitty is light as a feather.  And that's because the kid is literally walking on air with her freaky mutant powers.  
  
"Mind if I cut in?" Storm's unusual blue eyes meet his and her luscious lips are curved into an enticing smile.  
  
Before Barnes can answer, Kitty passes through him like a ghost, leaving him empty handed.  
  
Storm takes his hand.  
  
Barnes puts his arm around her waist, feeling every eye in the bunker on him as he does.  He can't bring himself to look at any of them, especially Stevie, because if he does, he's going to shut down and retreat.  And he wants this moment more than he's wanted anything in a long time.  
  
"James," Storm says as Barnes steers her across the floor, "allow me to confirm that there is absolutely nothing wrong with your moves."  
  
Barnes is relieved to hear it.  
  
  



	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20  
  
  
  
Peter's spider sense starts tingling just as Batroc gets a text message.  The engine noise cuts off a moment later and the mercenaries grab their stun batons, eyeing him like he might suddenly attack.  
  
Get ready, Steve tells him.  _We need you to be difficult and delay them from taking you inside so that Jean can scan their minds for your location.  She's going to use you as a conduit to read the people around you._  
  
As cool as that plan sounds -- and it really does -- being difficult is going to hurt.  He's got a shock collar around his neck and limited mobility.  Then again, it's either getting shocked or enjoying the long-term hospitality of AIM's hotel in Hell.  
  
The doors open and Peter can see at least five more armed men in tac suits waiting outside of the truck.  Every one of them is armed with a stun baton and a tranquilizer gun.  He can think of half a dozen quips about welcoming committees and warm welcomes that he'd like to make.  Stupid muzzle.  
  
Peter feigns fear, staring wide-eyed up at Batroc and shrinking back as the mercenary reaches for him.  
  
"Come here, you," Batroc hisses with exasperation, gripping the collar around Peter's neck and tugging him from the corner where he's curled up.  With a sneer, the mercenary scoops Peter up easily, carrying him from the truck and giving him a good look at their surroundings.  They're in a loading bay, with two unmarked refrigerated trucks parked to Peter's left.  There's a high ceiling, maybe twelve feet up, which Peter thinks he could easily make if he weren't shackled.   Then again, the shackles don't cover his hands or his feet and that's all he needs to stick to surfaces.  The big variable is whether he can jump that high.  
  
He twists in Batroc's grasp, bringing his hands up and using the shackles themselves as weapons.  Peter slams them as hard as he can against the mercenary's chin and is rewarded  with a satisfying crack.  After that, it's easy to roll when he's dropped and he bounces to his feet, jumping upwards with a prayer to whatever gods watch over spiders. He nearly cries when his fingertips touch the ceiling and hold him there, dangling precariously. Peter scrabbles for purchase and manages to get his feet under him while the mercenaries below are thrown into confusion.  Gunshots start to ring out and are abruptly halted by AIM security because recovering from gunshot wounds will delay whatever other horrors AIM has in store for him.  
  
Peter's spider sense is going off like crazy as he does his best to scuttle along the ceiling, which by the way, is utterly disgusting.  
  
_You're doing well_ , Steve assures him. _Jean needs one more minute._  
  
Unfortunately, Peter doesn't have another minute because Batroc activates the shock collar.  He's clinging to the ceiling for dear life, even as his muscles convulse and his vision blurs.  Sticking to surfaces doesn't require concentration.  He does it in his sleep.  But dear God, this hurts!  Through stubbornness and sheer force of will, Peter hangs on.  
  
Batroc gets frustrated and he increases the voltage.  The dummy doesn't realize he's standing almost directly underneath Peter.  
  
Peter puts his faith in his spidey strength and healing factor and pushes himself off the ceiling, landing hard on top of Batroc.  They crash to the floor and the collar's controller goes flying from Batroc's hands.  Because he has a healing factor and the proportional strength of a spider, Peter recovers first and he twists around, bringing his shackled fists down on Batroc over and over again.  
  
He can almost feel Steve's smile of approval.  
  
Spider sense warns him just in time to avoid another tranquilizer dart.  It warns him again as Batroc's team and a bunch of AIM guys come after him.  Between the tranquilizer darts they're shooting and the creep who grabbed the shock collar controller, it's a matter of seconds before he's down for the count.  
  
We're on our way, Steve promises.  Be strong, son.  
  
Dude, Peter thinks as everything starts to go black. _Hurry_!  
  
  
00000000000000000  
  
  
"Dude, stop."  
  
Matt stops but only because he doesn't hear Kaine's heartbeat anywhere in the building.  His hand hovers in mid-air, reaching for the door to the stairs even as he knows doing anything but dragging the Scorpion's unconscious carcass back to his cell is pointless.  "What is it?"  
  
"My spider sense isn't tingling.  I-I think Kaine's gone."  Jessica comes up beside him, also turning this way and that, no doubt pushing her own senses to the limit.  "How did he get out if JARVIS locked the place down?"  
  
"There are always ways around security," Matt assures her.  "Even ones powered by JARVIS."  
  
"Daredevil is right, Miss Jessica," JARVIS agrees.  "The security gates in the ventilation system were not designed to prevent someone with Kaine's strength from passing through.  He exited the building two minutes ago and headed north on Lexington Avenue.  I have been unable to track him past Forty-Fifth Street due to a power outage in the area that's shut down the NYPD security cameras."  
  
"Kaine killed the power that quickly?" Jessica asks and there's a note of awe in her voice.  
  
"The power was shut due to a water main break, resulting from Second Avenue subway construction."  
  
Matt shakes his head in disbelief.  It would have been easy enough for Kaine to hear the rushing water from the water main break the second he stepped outside the building but that's not what's bothering Matt.  No, what bothers him is the ease with which Kaine pulled this operation off, almost as if he planned --  "Half Winter Soldier.  Damn it.  He planned this, down to the last detail.  JARVIS, what did Kaine take?"  
  
The AI's voice artificial voice seems almost fragile as it says, "He took Mr. Stark."  
  
Matt curses loudly.  "He played us.  He's been playing us all along."  
  
"Da," Natasha says, her voice preternaturally calm as she drops down from the vent above.  The perfection of her movements is marred by a limp.  Her left leg.  Bones creak in her shoulders, hips and ribs and yet Natasha's breathing remains steady, unaffected, giving nothing away.  "I wouldn't be surprised if he set the Scorpion on Peter in the first place, knowing what Peter knew about the Tower's Hulk-proof cell."  
  
"But why Tony?" Jessica asks.  "Is this still about super soldiers?"  
  
"What else would it be, lapushka?" Natasha asks.  "Imagine having a dozen or more Tony Starks building weapons for HYDRA."  
  
"Or imagine that in the confused memories Kaine has from the Winter Soldier, the mission of executing Howard Stark and his family hasn't been carried out," Matt counters.  "Either way, it is now critical that we find Kaine.  Call Sam and I'll call Foggy."  
  
Jessica inhales sharply and Matt can tell that she's uncomfortable about it.  Not that he blames her.  She's going to have to give him one hell of an apology.  "Why Foggy?"  
  
"Because," Matt says slowly, "he and I have been interviewing the Winter Soldier and reviewing leaked records about his missions.  If we're going to find Kaine, we're going to have to start thinking like him.  Natasha, I... I need your help."  
  
She leans into his space, mouth close to his ear.  "Did that hurt more or less than punching an exo-skeleton?"  
  
  
  
0000000000000000000  
  
  
Peter awakens to a searing pain in his shoulder.  His eyes fly open to stare straight up at the kind of overhead lights he's seen above operating tables in those medical dramas that Aunt May likes to watch.  The sound he makes around the gag would be embarrassing but that embarrassment pales to Peter seeing his reflection in the mirror above and discovering that he's completely naked.  And strapped down.  
  
"Easy, 01."  The voice by his left shoulder is male but the person's face is obscured by a surgical mask.  "It's just a tattoo so we can identify you."  
  
01?  He's a number now?    
  
"See?  All done."  
  
Peter twists his head to the left and catches a glimpse of the hideous large '01' tattoo.  "Mmmmffffmmm!"  
  
There's movement to his right and -- dear God -- it's a woman with a tape measure.  
  
"Small for his age.  Underweight, too," she murmurs to the guy in the mask.  "We're probably going to have to adjust his nutritional intake.  Make a note."  
  
"Yes, Dr. Albright."  
  
Albright leans over and shines a light into Peter's eyes, nods once and then uses an uncomfortably cold stethoscope to listen to his heart.  After that, Dr. Albright pokes and prods every single bit of him, measuring and making notes as she goes.  Finally, she turns to the small metal table next to the bed to retrieve an empty syringe.  It doesn't surprise him in the least when she starts taking a blood sample.  By the time she's taken her sixth one, he's starting to feel a little tired from all the attention.  It's the skin scrapes that wake him up.  Albright takes samples from everywhere, including the soles of his feet.  
  
Finally, the doctor runs out of things to remove.  "Put 01 in his cage and give him his meal."  
  
Cage?  Cage?!  
  
Batroc's face is ugly shades of red and purple as he leans over and unhooks the restraints.  His expression is positively murderous as he grabs Peter by his right arm, putting pressure on the still weeping skin of his shoulder.  Yanking viciously, Batroc drags Peter through a pair of swinging doors and down a long corridor.  He swipes a key card and thrusts Peter towards a bank of cells, pushing him into the one at the farthest end.  
  
Eyes narrowed, Batroc presses a button and Peter hears the hum of a force field.  The mercenary gives Peter a one-fingered salute and leaves.  
  
Shoulders slumped, Peter turns to inspect his 'cage'.  There's a thin blanket and a drain in the floor.  Charming.  He's going to make sure he gives this place one star in his Yelp review.   The ceiling is low and the walls seem pretty solid.  It's an awkward climb to be certain, but when he's done, he's wedged up in a corner feeling only marginally safer.  
  
"Is that you, Parker?"  There's no mistaking the voice coming from the cage next to him.  
  
"Mmmfffmmm!"  Yes.  
  
Fury snorts a weak laugh.  "Looks like they finally found a way to shut you up, huh, kid?"  
  
"Mmmmmmfff!"  Not funny, Fury.  
  
"It is a little funny."  
  
"Mmmffff."  Peter narrows his eyes.  He's being tortured to save this jackass?  Really?  _Thanks a lot, Steve!_  
  
_Steve?_  
  
Uh-oh.  
  
  
  



	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21  
  
  
Tony Stark has put up with a lot of crap in his life, most recently in the days leading up to and immediately following creating the very first Iron Man suit.  His current situation actually makes him nostalgic for Ten Rings because at least they were professionals with specific, if insane, demands.  
  
Kaine?    
  
Kaine's got bupkes.  
  
Actually, Kaine's got the crazy.  In spades.  
  
But it's the lack of demands that bothers Tony.  He needs a problem to solve and he cannot solve crazy.   Not for lack of trying either, given some of the women he dated.  But even they had demands.  Crazy and high maintenance always seemed to go hand in hand with those women.  
  
Kaine?  Nothing.  It's like he took Tony without any idea *why* he was taking him.  
  
And that... That is annoying.    
  
Almost as annoying as the zip ties around his wrists and ankles and the gag that Kaine stuffed in his mouth within seconds of Tony waking up.  Because, of course, Tony had demands of his own.  Followed by threats.  And then general insults.  He's Tony Stark, that's why.  And of course he's going to insult some whacked out, born a few months ago, wet-behind-the-ears, hybrid clone who's a perfect example of why not to screw around with human genetics.  
  
So here he is, in a trashed lab of some kind that smells like mold, mildew, cat piss and other things that Tony doesn't want to think about while Kaine is...  Somewhere else.  Now that's nerve.  He takes the great Tony Stark hostage and *ignores* him.  Like he's some kind of B-lister hostage!  They are going to have words about this.  When the gag comes off.  If it comes off.  The damn gag had better come off.  
  
Tony is listing all the points he intends to cover when the gag comes off when he heards a scuffing sound over to his left.  There he is.  There's his psycho captor!  And he's dragging bundles?  No.  People.  Two of them.  
  
Mary Jane Watson and Sam Wilson.  
  
That's not good.  
  
And his hands are, literally, tied.  Plus, there's the whole gag thing.  Not to mention the hostage and psycho captor thing.  
  
But there's a bright side, boys and girls.  Yes, there is.  Why?  Because Tony Stark is a goddamn genius, that's why.  And because he's a genius, he's just figured out where he is and what Kaine wants from him.    
  
The problem is, he has no idea how he's going to either deliver it or get them all out of here alive.  
  
Then again, he's Tony Stark.  He *lives* for figuring out solutions to problems.  
  
  
000000000000000  
  
  
"Meal time, 01!"  
  
Peter cracks open an eye to see he has company.  The jovial voice belongs to a huge Hispanic man who has muscles on his muscles.  Smiley is holding some sort of container of taupe colored liquid and he's got company backing him up.  Batroc is there, stun baton in hand, with five of his buddies, likewise armed.  None of them are smiling.  
  
The force field is down and Smiley is beckoning, as if the notion of something taupe could be the best meal ever.  "Come on, 01.  Be a good boy now and come get your meal."  
  
There's a snicker from Fury's cell.  Fury probably doesn't get fed anything taupe.  
  
Steve specifically instructed him to play along as much as possible, unless he was in physical danger.  The taupe stuff in the container looks like it could pose physical danger.  Unfortunately, his spider sense says otherwise.  
  
With a sigh, Peter eases down the wall, pulls the blanket tighter around him and makes an attempt to cocoon himself with it because the naked thing is downright embarrassing.    
  
"There's a good boy," Smiley says, as if Peter's a dog doing tricks.  "Let's get that muzzle off.  Bend forward."  
  
There's a tug and then sweet relief.  Peter sucks in a deep breath as he straightens, eyeing the beverage in the guy's hand with suspicion.  
  
Smiley stuffs a straw into the container and holds it out.  Peter reaches for it but Smiley pulls it away.  "No, I hold it.  You drink.  That's how this works."  
  
"I don't suppose I could get pizza instead?" Peter ventures.  
  
"No talking, 01," Smiley's smile fades almost instantly.  "You either be a good boy and drink this or you're going to be getting your meals through an NG tube.  Without anesthetic."  
  
It's a toss up as to whether drinking that sludge voluntarily or being force fed is worse.  With a resigned sigh, Peter leans forward and takes a hesitant sip of the ridiculously thick sludge, instantly confirming his hypothesis that any liquid that is taupe in color is never, ever going to taste good.  
  
In fact, it's so repulsive that he gags and throws up, right on Smiley.  
  
Uh-oh.  "S-sorry?"  
  
Smiley is scowling as he tries to backhand Peter, failing thanks to good old Spidey sense.  "Hold still, you filthy little animal!"  
  
"Wow, that's some great bedside manner you've got there, Chuckles.  I'll bet all the inmates here at the asylum love you."  Since it's obvious that playing along isn't going to work, Peter decides to make as much a nuisance of himself as possible, even with the restraints.  He springs up over Smiley's head, straight into Batroc because, well, he really kind of detests the guy.  "Miss me?"  
  
They go down in a heap, with Peter using the heavy shackles as weapons again.  It's a winning strategy, after all.  Besides, if he keeps smacking on Batroc with them, Batroc is probably going to suggest taking the damn things off.  He snatches the controller for the shock collar and crushes it in his hand.  "Whoops!  Look what I went and did!"  
  
Spidey sense warns him that the guys with the stun batons are finally figuring out they're supposed to do something, so he leaps over them, clinging to the corridor's high ceiling where they can't reach him.  Not for lack of trying, though.  "Gee, maybe you guys should have worn Air Jordan's instead of combat boots.  That's what you get for choosing fashion over function."  
  
"Get 'em, kid!"  Fury is almost touching the force field of his cell, watching Peter's shenanigans with an honest-to-goodness grin.  Who knew the guy could even do that?  It's still creepy.  Especially when Peter thinks about the fact he's doing all this buck naked.  Yeah, no.  He's going to pretend he's wearing his Spidey costume.  
  
Smiley is most definitely not smiling now.  "Get your ass down here now, 01!"  
  
"Well, since you asked so politely..."  Peter propels himself from the ceiling, crashing hard into Smiley and giving him a taste of the adamantium restraints.  Spider sense warns him in time to kick out with his feet, sending one of the mercenaries crashing into two of his buddies.  "Strike!"  
  
Just as he's about to return to higher ground, Batroc grabs his foot, catching him mid-leap and throwing Peter to the floor before body slamming him.  The mercenary isn't even bothering with the stun baton as he lays into Peter with his fists.  Peter blocks as much as possible with the adamantium restraints and when that fails, he bucks hard using all his strength to throw Batroc off and halfway down the cell block.    
  
Peter is on a roll, right up until they start shooting the tranquilizer darts.  
  
Darn.  
  
Well, it was fun while it  
  
  
  
  
  
0000000000000000000  
  
  
"Sam's not answering and JARVIS isn't able to track him," Natasha says.  
  
Foggy is pointedly ignoring Jessica, despite her four attempts to apologize so far and Matt isn't making any attempt to intervene on her behalf.  On the other hand, Foggy did stop by Matt's apartment to pick up her Spidey costume so maybe he's not as mad as he's making her think he is.  
  
Transcripts of conversations with Bucky Barnes, who is the Winter Soldier guy and the source of Kaine's messed up mental state, are spread across the conference room table.  Unfortunately, most of the locations that have come up in the transcripts are outside the United States.  And then there's the one about Tony Stark's parents...  Jessica isn't surprised to learn that they died in a not-quite accident involving a car, arranged courtesy of the Winter Soldier.  She's never met the guy and she's not sure she can feel as much sympathy for him as everyone else around the table.  Especially since she's met Kaine and he's half Winter Soldier.  The bad half, apparently.  
  
"He's holed up somewhere," Matt murmurs.  "Any mentions at all of bolt holes he's used, Foggy?"  
  
Foggy shakes his head.  "No.  He did mention a couple of HYDRA bunkers that he raided after SHIELD fell."  
  
"Anything close by?"  
  
Natasha frowns.  "If he's in a HYDRA bunker, he's probably got a weapons cache.  He could hold off an army with the kinds of weapons HYDRA kept in those bunkers."  
  
Jessica blinks, straightening up in her chair as she looks over at Natasha.  "What did you just say?"  
  
"I said he could hold off an army --"  
  
"But he won't hold off Spider-man."  They're all looking at her now, even Matt, using whatever he has instead of sight.  Jessica is sure that he can hear her heart pounding and her pulse racing as she puts the pieces together.  "He's going back to where it all started."  
  
"Back to where what started?" Foggy asks.    
  
"Where Spider-man started."  She should go.  She knows where he is, what he's doing and she even thinks she knows why.    
  
Natasha is out of her seat and blocking the conference room door in a single fluid motion.  "He started in Queens, yes?"  
  
Jessica glances at Matt as he stands up and takes his place next to Natasha.  The message is loud and clear.  She's not getting out of here without going through them.  Jessica could do it.  If she wanted to alienate everybody, that is.  "Gee, Matt, I'd almost think you weren't somebody who doesn't play well with others and thinks planning is over-rated."  
  
"That's nothing compared to the fatherly protective streak we've all just discovered he has," Foggy comments.  "Nice to know you can act responsibly once in a while, Matty."  
  
"He's just trying to impress me," Natasha smiles.  
  
Matt tilts his head in her direction.  "Is it working?"  
  
"Ask me later."  
  
Jessica exchanges looks with Foggy and they silently agree that Matt and Natasha are probably the most adorable thing ever.  Especially since Natasha will not tolerate Matt's stubborn, reckless behavior.    
  
Matt clears his throat.  "Okay, Jess, explain."  
  
Jess?  That's new and she thinks she might like that.  A lot.  "We're all Peter.  All of us clones.  Except for Kaine.  He's split in two and half of who he is has a memory like Swiss cheese, according to everything you just told me.  So while Kaine can react like Barnes and he can fight like Barnes, he's not Barnes.  He can't be because he doesn't know who Barnes is anymore than Barnes does.  So what Kaine is going through is what *I'm* going through.  Every fiber of my being is telling me I'm Peter Parker.  I remember everything Peter's ever done, said, smelled, eaten.  Everything.  Kaine remembers all of this and Kaine's reached the same conclusion I have.  We're not Peter Parker.  We can't be.  So we have to be somebody else."  
  
"Okay," Matt says slowly.  "How?"  
  
"He goes back to where Peter Parker became something more."  
  
Matt's jaw clenches.  "Oscorp.  That's why he took Tony."  
  
"A little detail for those of us in the slow non-super hero class?" Foggy asks.  
  
"Peter got his powers when he was bitten by a spider that Oscorp was using as a test subject for super soldier serum called Oz," Matt explains.  "That's the only time the formula ever worked without causing insanity or a horrible mutation.  Kaine took Tony to solve the problem.  He wants to be somebody else but he wants to evolve chemically."  
  
"That," Foggy says, shaking his head.  "That is just nuts.  You know, Matt, I miss the days when you were taking on the Yakuza and the entire police department.  At least that made sense.  Kind of.  This?  I don't even have words."  
  
"You're the one who thought I needed to be an Avenger," Matt points out.  "You even negotiated the terms."  
  
"Boys," Natasha snaps her fingers.  "I hate to break up this little lovers' spat but we need to get to New Jersey and since we're down a Quinjet and I'm the only team member who drives, I say we need to go now."  
  
"You're the responsible one," Matt demurs.  
  
"I'm the one in charge," Natasha counters.  
  
Matt just smiles.  
  
Jessica isn't sure whether the idea of them together is cute or horrifying.  
  
  
  
  
000000000000000000000  
  
  
  
  
Forty minutes.  Forty minutes until they can touch down in Cheektowaga and rain hell down on AIM.  
  
Steve's plan is solid.  He's got forty minutes to poke holes in it just in case he's missed something but Steve is sure that the plan is solid.  His plans are *always* solid.  But he needs to try to poke holes in it because otherwise, he's going to spend the next forty minutes worrying that he's lost more than just contact with Peter Parker.  Except that's exactly what he's doing. The looks Bucky is throwing his way aren't helping.    
  
There's an anxiety radiating from Bucky that Steve remembers from the many times he was deathly ill.  Before.  It's strange seeing Bucky that anxious about a kid he's know for only a few weeks but then again, the two of them are close.  It shouldn't make him feel like an outsider, especially when Bucky is his best friend, but it does.  
  
Bucky eyes him like he can read Steve's mind the way Jean can.  "Anything?"  
  
"No," Steve says with a frown. "Jean said when he lost consciousness this time the connection was severed.  The distance was too great for her to reach him without some sort of device they have back at their school."    
  
"Cerebro."  
  
"What?"  
  
"It's called Cerebro.  You should talk to these guys, Stevie.  They're interesting."  
  
"Like Storm?"  
  
Bucky flashes a hint of a smile.  "All of 'em.  Even Logan.  He's not that bad once you get to know him."  
  
Steve nods and checks the time again.  Thirty eight minutes.  
  
"It's day one, Stevie.  They've only had him a couple of hours," Bucky says.  "They'll want to run tests, establish baselines.  I don't think they'd wipe him yet."  
  
Yet.  How the hell would Steve explain *that* to Aunt May? How is he even going to explain any of this?  "I didn't think we'd lose contact."  
  
"You did.  You never miss a trick with your plans," Bucky shrugs.  "You think maybe you're bein' a little hard on yourself?  Petey knew what he was going into and he agreed to do it.  The kid has guts and he trusts us to get him out of there.  Besides, if I know Petey, he's making a nuisance of himself, mouthin' off at 'em and maybe getting smacked around a little.  Nothing his healing factor and strength can't handle.  You should let down your walls with him, Stevie."  
  
"My walls?"  
  
"Sam's phrase, not mine.  A way of protectin' your feelings but it keeps everyone else out, too.  You don't realize it but you keep pushing Petey away."  Bucky's eyes narrow slightly as he studies Steve.  "This isn't the Army and you're not his drill sergeant.  You can teach him without being a hardass about it.  The kid wants to love you.  Let him."  
  
Just when Steve didn't think he could possibly feel any guiltier or frustrated about the... thirty six minutes...  "He's never going to forgive me for sending him in there to rescue Fury."  
  
"Sure he will," Bucky assures him.  "Right after he sasses you and whines about you bein' late.  Buy him a pizza and offer to show him how to throw your shield.  He's dyin' to play with that thing."  
  
"He is?"  
  
"You don't talk to him much, do you?"  
  
"There hasn't been a lot of opportunity."  
  
Bucky snorts.  "Make the opportunity.  You plan everything else, Captain America.  Start planning a life for Steve Rogers."  
  
"Have you been planning one for Bucky Barnes?" Steve asks.  
  
"I've been *living* a life for James Barnes.  James is the guy that's gonna take that Storm girl out dancing.  Crowds scare me to death these days and I don't understand any of this music the kids are listening to, but that's what James Barnes is going to do."  
  
"Because of Peter Parker."  
  
"That kid," Bucky says slowly, "represents the best of us, Stevie.  You and me.  Them, too.  Otherwise, why would these X-Men come to his rescue?  Twice in one day?"  
  
Steve casts a glance across the plane at their allies.  Kitty is sitting next to Clint in the cockpit, co-piloting and they seem to be getting along famously.  Logan, Jean and Storm are huddled together, going over their part of the plan. If he knows Jean after their brief touching of minds, she's trying her damnedest to re-establish the link with Peter.    
  
Bucky is right.  Peter is the best of them.  
  
And thirty-four minutes is too goddamned long.    
  
Steve's eyes focus on Deadpool who's sitting by himself, doing tricks with a red and black yo-yo that he either had with him or picked up somewhere.  He's willing to bet it was the former. "Buck?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Do you still trust me?"  
  
"To the end of the line, pal."  
  
"Do you trust Deadpool?"  
  
"I might be as nuts as everyone thinks I am, but yeah, I do."  
  
"How do you feel about teleporting?"  
  
"How do you feel about making him an Avenger?" Bucky counters.  "He wants to be a good guy."  
  
Steve grins and beckons Deadpool with a crooked finger.  "Isn't he already?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

 

 

"I'm coming with you."

Barnes glances down and there, at his elbow, is Kitty Pryde peering up at him with her big, brown eyes and a very stubborn look on her cute little face. "What makes you think we're goin' anywhere?"

"Logan has enhanced hearing, Jean's a telepath and I'm not stupid. The three of you are huddled together and whispering." She cuts her eyes towards Steve and Deadpool. "You're planning something and the only thing it could be is getting to Peter before the rest of the team. So, I'm coming with you."

"No," Barnes says, firmly. "Avengers only."

"Are you an Avenger?" Kitty asks, all fake innocence. "And is Deadpool? And how come Clint's not coming? Isn't he an Avenger?"

He looks helplessly at Steve for support.

Taking the cue, Steve crouches down so that he's eye level with Kitty. "What we're about to do is very dangerous --"

"Have you ever met Magneto?" she counters.

"Yes, I have. I had the dubious pleasure when he was incarcerated at the Triskelion," Steve says and damn if he's not using his 'Captain America addressing the troops' voice. Poor kid isn't going to know what hit her. By the time Stevie is done, she'll think staying behind is an honor. "I understand you were on the team when the X-Men took him down."

She nods. "That's right. Him and the rest of the members of the Brotherhood."

"That's why I have every faith that you know how to handle yourself in the field."

Say what!?

"You cannot be serious, Stevie!" Barnes exclaims and in what world is *he* the voice of reason, especially in *his* mental state? "She's --"

"Got the ability to disrupt any kind of tech they've got," Steve cuts him off, firmly and shit, he's using the 'address the troops' voice on Barnes. "That includes force fields, weapons and security systems. I hadn't planned on asking but if Kitty is volunteering, I'm damned glad to have her on the team. If she wants to be an Avenger, I say welcome to the team, Shadowcat."

"Charlie might have somethin' to say about that, bub."

Barnes doesn't much care for Logan but right now, he could kiss the hairy bastard. On the mouth.

Steve straightens, but rests a hand on Kitty's shoulder, leaving no doubt about his intentions. She's coming with them, whether Logan likes it or not. "We need her, Logan."

"And you plan on what? Teleporting there ahead of the rest of the team, Cap?" Logan challenges, folding his arms across his chest.

"Yes. Deadpool has a device."

"And it took you until we were in the air to figure that out?" Logan growls. "I thought you were supposed to be some kind of military genius. Then again, you're trusting Deadpool to get you there in one piece."

Deadpool draws himself up and says indignantly, "I'm a good guy now and I'm not letting my team down."

"And we teleport all the time," Kitty chimes in.

Barnes' eyes go wide. "You what?"

"We practice in the Danger Room and Kurt likes showing off," she shrugs. "It's kind of fun, once you get used to the smell."

"My teleporter doesn't have a smell," Deadpool says loftily.

"You don't even know how it works," Logan retorts. "Do you?"

"Sure I do."

"And?"

"That's my secret. Cap trusts me and so does Winnie."

"Yeah?" Logan leans in towards Deadpool. "I don't." He narrows his eyes at Steve. "You wanna take Kitty, you're takin' me, too."

Holy. Shit.

Steve cuts his eyes to Deadpool. "Can you teleport that many?"

Deadpool uses a gloved hand to rub his masked chin as he considers the question and then he says brightly, "We won't know unless we try, right? Everybody join hands and think happy thoughts." He cocks his head, listening to someone who isn't there, which lends more than a little weight to Logan's arguments. "That's flying? Really? I always think happy thoughts when I teleport. You know what? Screw it. I say let's all think the same happy thought. Let's think about killing those AIM motherfu --"

"Language!" Steve scolds him sharply. "There are children present."

"Oh my god," Kitty groans. "Seriously? Are you going to tell me my costume's too tight next?"

Steve eyes her. "A little modesty goes a long way, young lady."

"He's serious about that kind of stuff," Deadpool informs her earnestly. "You're not gonna take my guns away for cussing, are you Cap?"

"Not this time." He holds out his hands. Barnes takes one. Kitty takes the other. Logan and Deadpool complete the chain. "You heard Deadpool. Happy thoughts."

Barnes has no doubt that they're all thinking the same happy thought, profanity be damned.

 

0000000000000000000000000000

 

Of all the things things that could possibly go wrong with their plan to rescue Tony and stop Kaine, Matt would have never, ever have predicted that the thing that would screw them up was something completely beyond their control.

Something completely... Well, for want of a better word, stupid.

Traffic.

New York City traffic.

Even though Matt doesn't drive, he's taken enough cabs to know that at the best of times, traffic in New York City and especially at its bridges and tunnels is a nightmare. It's one of the reasons he tries never to leave Hell's Kitchen, other than to go to court downtown. And when wearing his costume, he's never, not once been thwarted by traffic. In fact, he's used traffic to his advantage, pulling a couple of wiseguys right out of their cars to beat the hell out of them, thanks to congestion.

Now, however, traffic is his enemy. Possibly his worst enemy since Wilson Fisk.

Jessica sighs for the umpteenth time and he knows that she's a teenager and worse, that she is *exactly* like Peter when he's frustrated. But still... "How is this even possible?"

"Somebody cuts off a truck, it jackknifes and the Lincoln Tunnel gets shut down," Natasha tells Jessica. "It's a daily occurrence in New York. Sometimes more than once a day. Sit tight. They'll re-open it soon."

"Sit tight? We're stuck in traffic! The frigging *Avengers* are late to rescue our teammates because we are stuck in traffic!" Jessica exclaims, throwing her hands up. "Do something!"

"Like what? And, no, we are not late. There is no time table. Kaine wants a super soldier serum and that's not something Tony can whip up in a blender in thirty seconds like he's making a margarita. It's something that would take even him days or weeks to reverse engineer." Natasha drums her fingers on the steering wheel and her heartbeat is steady. "Matt, what are the cops saying?"

"Nothing useful." Like everyone else stuck in this mess, the cops are frustrated and growing more so by the second as people lean out their car windows to shout or honk their horns, as if that might magically make the jackknifed truck vanish. Between the noise, the exhaust fumes, the body odor of other drivers, the mildewed stench of the tunnel itself, Matt's senses are being overwhelmed in the worst way possible. "We're going to be here a while longer."

"How can you two be so calm?!" Jessica demands.

Matt twists around in the front passenger seat so that he can face her. Her heart rate is erratic and she's perspiring slightly, no doubt because of the confined space of the car and the claustrophobic tunnel. Just like him. "I'm not. I'm just not wasting energy over something I can't control. And whatever you're thinking of doing, don't."

"What makes you think I'm thinking of doing anything?"

He's thinking it because not only is she just like Peter, but the two of them are more like him than he cares to admit. Instead of saying that, Matt decides to play at being mysterious. "You know how I know."

There's a frustrated puff of air and her body temperature rises. He can hear her hands clenching and unclenching. "You two are stuck here. I'm not. I can --"

"Jump from car to car or climb along the ceiling of the tunnel until you get to the other side. Natasha and I can do the same but then what? How do we get where we need to go? Jump on top of a moving vehicle and hope it's going in the right direction?" No sooner are the words out of his mouth than he realizes that it sounds exactly like the best course of action. Didn't Jessica mention that she did exactly that when she escaped the HYDRA lab? Oscorp is in Secaucus, just five and a half miles from the tunnel. The tunnel itself is a mile and a half long and they're already almost a quarter of a mile inside. "Natasha?"

His answer is the sound of the engine cutting off and her door opening, followed by Natasha lightly jumping from the roof of their car onto the tour bus in front of them.

So much for Natasha being the responsible one.

 

0000000000000000000000000000

 

Kitty knows that when she tells Bobby and the others later about what it was like to take on AIM to rescue Spider-man and Nick Fury with Captain America, she'll have to make it sound a lot more exciting than this. After all, they're used to going into situations against other mutants, like the Brotherhood and Mister Sinister. People with powers. Scary, world-ending powers.

These AIM guys? All they have are bullets. Lots of bullets, to be sure, but mostly just bullets. Bullets are one of the easiest levels of the Danger Room. Looking over at Captain America, she wonders what he would think about some of the tougher levels she's mastered. See if he gives her a lecture about modesty after dealing with Level Three!

The bullets are flying, not that it matters because she's completely phased and they're passing harmlessly through her. None of the bullets seem to be hitting Bucky or Captain America, especially not with Captain America's shield and the way he uses it as a weapon, too. Bucky? He's picking off AIM guys like he's a World of Warcraft pro. One shot and they're history.

Logan is slashing away, doing what he does best and Deadpool... Deadpool is strolling slowly through the chaos, not even flinching when bullets hit him and he's shooting...well, it looks like he's shooting indiscriminately. But he's not. Deadpool's aim is as accurate as Bucky's. The difference is that Deadpool seems to be enjoying it. 

Okay, fine, there's usually not that much carnage during an X-Men mission and yes, all the blood, guts and gore is definitely more than a little disgusting. But still... It's so... ordinary.

Kitty's been an X-Man for six months and she's seen *weird*. She's seen *dangerous*. AIM? They're neither, at least by X-Men standards and there aren't really a lot of them around, either. Bobby and Rogue are not going to be impressed, even if she was invited along by Captain America himself. Actually, Rogue might be a little impressed by that. Especially when she tells Rogue that Captain America's butt is even nicer in person.

Captain America and his nice butt gave her a very specific set of orders. She's been told not to phase through the servers until Bucky can raid the data but instead to phase though computers, and electronic equipment to help secure the facility. When that's done, her second job is to disable every locking mechanism on every door and keep going until she finds Peter and Nick Fury. If he's even there.

What she finds instead of Peter is something else. 

Multiple something elses.

There are a dozen of these something elses and they're made of metal and are about eight feet tall. Each one is spherical in shape with a pair of arms that look like small cannons. On top of each body is a small round head. And judging by the sounds they're all making and the way the light arrays on those heads are turning on, the things are powering up. Kitty is fairly certain that whatever they are, these things are not good.

Steve bursts through the door, Bucky at his heels and they attack with such coordination that they're like one person. Steve throws his shield at one of the bizarre-looking constructs while Bucky opens fire with his gun -- as if a gun would actually do any damage. It doesn't, of course, and the bullets ricochet so the next thing Bucky does is pull a scary looking knife that Kitty recognizes as a Ka-bar, thanks to Logan's idea of fun topics of conversation, and Bucky lunges for the metal monstrosity. The shield lodges in the space between the head and the body of the construct but it doesn't do more than that. The construct raises both cannon arms and points them right at Steve.

Kitty rolls her eyes at them and then phases through the thing before it can open fire, short-circuiting it. With a cocky grin, she takes out the other eleven. She finishes in less than ten seconds and then grabs Steve's shield, phasing with it and presents it to him with a little bow.

The two super soldiers are staring at her, wide-eyed.

Bucky recovers his tongue first. "Those were Spider Slayers. Stolen SHIELD tech. Made to take down Petey or any other super soldier. You took 'em down without working up a sweat."

"Yup. I have that effect on technology," Kitty tells him, with a little shrug and sending a pointed look in the direction of his arm. He's about to understand why in just a second. "I think Peter might be on the level below us."

With that, she takes hold of Steve's arm and phases through the floor with him.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All 23 chapters have been restored. This is what I get for attempting to edit while on a moving train. Thanks to everyone who left reviews/kudos/comments on the original post. More to come ***

Chapter 23

 

 

Biochemistry isn't really Tony's thing. He's an engineer, a tinkerer. He's the guy who builds amazing stuff out of crap, like old toasters and vintage cell phones. Sure, he's read about genetics. Who wouldn't? His father and that Erskine guy *invented* Captain America, for God's sake. So while Tony understands biochemistry, can understand the why of the super soldiers, he's never been particularly fascinated by the how.

Even now.

Even with Kaine standing practically up his ass as he sits, zip-tied to a chair and attempts to read through Otto Octavius' notes on the Oz serum. The notes themselves are less interesting than the fact that Kaine has them in the first place. They're pristine, which tells Tony that they weren't left lying around here, at the old Oscorp lab all these many months. In fact, there are even more notes scrawled in the margins of some of the pages and a few are dated as recently as two months ago.

Tony can't believe someone with Octavius' insane-yet-brilliant mind kept hard copy notes. Had no one ever explained to the man about record retention risk?

He's about to tell Kaine to back off and let him read in peace when Kaine's posture goes instantly alert, like a panther about to strike. Tony follows Kaine's gaze and sees that Sam's eyes are open and he's glaring at Kaine. Sam is zip tied and gagged. Mary Jane, who's starting to wake up, isn't.

Kaine is at her side instantly, a bottle of water in hand, as he carefully helps her to sit up. Whatever's going on in his messed up head, it's obvious he's as in love with Mary Jane as Peter is. Tony doesn't need to be psychic to predict how that's going to end.

"What the..." Mary Jane trails off when she sees Tony and her eyes narrow at Kaine. "You kidnapped Tony? Why would you kidnap Tony?"

"He's gonna help us, doll."

'H-help us do what?" Her eyes meet Tony's and then grow wide as she looks around. "Th-this is --"

"Where I became Spider-man." His voice, Tony notes, shifts from Bucky Barnes' Brooklyn inflection to Peter's often-nervous teenage Queens accent. "That spider almost bit you too that day. Remember?"

"H-how do you know that?"

"I was there."

"You weren't there! You're not Peter!" Mary Jane snaps and Tony bites back a grin as Kaine flinches. The clone may not be Peter, but he's got enough of Peter in him to know when to be afraid of the cute little redhead's temper.

Kaine's smile fades and he lays the index finger of his left hand over her lips. Then his head cocks slightly, his eyes narrowing in confusion as he looks down at his own hand.

Holy shit! Tony leans forward, studying the clone's reaction and realizing that his confusion stems from the fact that the arm isn't cybernetic. How fucked up is Kaine if he's not sure whether his body is Peter's or Barnes'? And if Barnes is only now starting to get his memories and sense of self back, what exactly of Barnes is there in Kaine? It's enough to make him feel sorry for the poor psychotic bastard, even if the poor psychotic bastard kidnapped him and wants him to create another batch of Oz.

"Listen to me, Mary." Kaine leans in close to her and it's Peter's voice that comes out of his mouth. "Listen. I'm Peter. I know everything he knows. Feel everything he feels. And I want to keep you safe. You know my secret and it's done nothing but put you in danger. When Norman threw you off the bridge, I-I almost... If I'd lost you... I can't risk that again. I need you to be safe, Mary Jane, and this... It's the only way. Tony's going to make you strong, like me and then we can be together. We can be happy. You understand that, right? It's either this or I let you go and I can't let you go. I-I love you."

"Oh my God," Mary Jane breathes. "He's going to break up with me to keep me safe."

"He. Doesn't. Matter!!!" Kaine lashes out, smashing the desk that Mary Jane is propped against into a twisted heap of metal and fiberboard. With a snarl, he grabs Mary Jane and hisses at her in Russian, dragging her to her feet by the front of her shirt as he stands up and then lifts her into the air.

Tony winces and struggles against the plastic holding him in place. Dammit!

"Hey, tiger!"

Kaine's head whips around.

Jessica launches herself from the ceiling, catching Kaine's jaw with her fist as she propels herself into him. "Miss me?"

Mary Jane's eyes go wide. "Oh my God..."

"I'd have been here sooner to kick your ass," Jessica tells Kaine, dodging his assault and kicking him in his midsection, "but traffic was a bitch. I got stuck in the tunnel and again on Paterson Plank Road. Next time, how about keeping your evil lair in the five boroughs, huh, bro?"

She really is Peter. She moves with the same grace and God, she even mouths off like him. Tony can't take his eyes off of her. Cloning is wrong but damn if HYDRA didn't get it right with her. He's so engrossed by the sight of Peter's female clone hitting Kaine with everything she's got that he doesn't notice Natasha until he feels her knife slice through the zip ties, freeing him.

"You've got to stop being taken hostage," Natasha tells him.

Tony smirks at her. "The last time I was taken hostage, I invented my first set of armor."

"What were you going to invent this time?"

He picks up the notes. "An end to this."

"An end?" A leg from the destroyed desk swats Tony onto his ass, knocking the breath out of him and another goes after Natasha, smashing the floor as it goes like a piledriver.

More metal flies through the air and Tony lays there, gasping, as Murdock and Sam dodge the maelstrom.

"On the contrary, Mr. Stark, this is the beginning," Otto Octavius - Doctor Goddamn Octopus himself --says, stepping into view from the shadows, as scrap metal pulled from every corner of the damaged lab circles his body. His metal tentacles raise him high into the air as he takes out a cell phone. With a grin, he jabs the touch screen.

Kaine and Jessica collapse.

"A frequency." Murdock shoves Sam, saving him from being impaled by a length of broken pipe. "You used a frequency as a trigger."

"I used several of them. Far more effective than mere words and far easier to program in effectively, even when the clones were in their earliest, pre-verbal stages of development," Octavius sniffs, lifting a limp Jessica with a tentacle. "Hello again, my dear. Have you missed your daddy?"

Murdock's jaw clenches. "*You* made her?"

"Yes, Daredevil, I did," the smug sonofabitch tells him. "I was there at her birth."

Tony's seen footage of it from the last time Octavius and his friends were loose. He's seen how Murdock goes deathly still, how his arms drop to his sides and he moves slowly, like there is nothing in the world but him and his target. And his target is going down. Period.

It's scary as fuck. But what's even scarier are the next words that come out of Murdock's mouth.

He tilts his head towards Octavius and his voice is like ice. "I'm going to kill you."

 

000000000000000000000

 

Today has been a day of firsts for Steve.

He's teleported. Twice.

And now, he's phased through solid concrete and steel.

If the situation weren't so grave, he'd love to marvel at these incredible experiences and he hopes that when this day, when this mission *finally* ends, he'll be able to sit with Bucky and talk about it. But the mission isn't over yet.

It's just gotten more complicated.

Because as incredible as phasing through a building with Kitty Pryde is, they've phased right into the middle of a strike team. Steve immediately recognizes Batroc and his men and there are two dozen others. Gunfire erupts and Steve raises his shield to protect Kitty.

He's confused when the bullets go right through it.

Through him.

"We're still phased," Kitty explains with a grin. "Want to stay here or keep moving? We can airwalk back up or see if there's anything below us."

"I've got this," Steve starts to tell her and then he remembers the promise Bucky made to Deadpool. "Can you bring Deadpool down here? He called dibs on the guy who looks like he's got a dead ferret on his head."

Kitty snorts a laugh. "You've been spending too much time with Peter."

No, Steve thinks, he hasn't spent nearly enough. But he will. And he's going to have to meet some of the company Peter's been keeping as Spider-man. Especially if they're anything at all like Kitty Pryde.

"Get ready," Kitty says. "Bucky'll be right behind. I couldn't risk shorting out his arm but I can disable the security and get him down here before you can blink." With a nod, she lets go of his hand and the bullets start bouncing off his shield. He catches a glimpse of her walking on air! Straight through the ceiling!

Steve hurls the now-solid shield as hard as he can, scattering his opponents. He'll leave Batroc for Deadpool. But the rest? Especially that LaMarre? They're his.

He flashes a feral smile at Batroc. "Shoulda brought more guys."

 

0000000000000000

 

"They ditched me," Clint mutters to himself. "They ditched me and they took *Deadpool*."

Jean settles into the co-pilot seat next to him. "Steve wants us to take care of the security teams outside the bunker."

"He told you that?"

"Not in so many words."

Mutants and super soldiers. He's just a guy. Unenhanced. But he's great at what he does. Except nobody appreciates him. They should. He's freaking fantastic. Where's the damn respect? Even his dog doesn't respect him. Good god, he's sulking like Peter Parker! Clint glances over and sees the redhead biting her lips, trying not to smile. "Are you reading my mind?"

"You're projecting and ordinarily, I'd have my defenses up, but I'm trying to see how many security teams are out there and how well-armed they are." She presses a slim hand to her temple and closes her eyes in concentration. "There are forty of them outside. The number of conscious minds inside the bunker keeps going down. Rapidly."

"Go team." Jeez, he sounds whiny and then he brightens. Forty guys. He can handle forty guys. He's got some new arrows he's been dying to try out.

"Mr. Barton?"

"Clint."

Jean tilts her head slightly. "Think you can pilot the Blackbird in sleet?"

"Sure," he tells her, "but the weather is... Holy shit!"

"That's why they call her Storm."

"Well," Clint sighs, feeling even more inadequate because weather and arrows aren't even in the same league. "I guess that makes me the chauffeur -- uh, pilot, huh?"

"On the contrary," Jean corrects him with an amused smile. "There are forty sleet soaked guys out there. We need you and your... I'm sorry, is that a knockout gas arrow you're thinking of using?"

"Probably not a good idea in the sleet," he sulks.

Storm pokes her head into the cockpit and greets Clint with a little finger wave. "Say the word and you can have clear skies, Mr. Barton, and let me know if you'd like the wind at your back. If you need wind gust of a certain amount, I can arrange that too."

Just a guy.

With some really powerful back up.

Clint decides he can live with that.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we are. There are 23 chapters recovered and reposted and an author who wants to cry and who's hoping her readers come back.
> 
> Make my day, folks. Kudo if you're still with me, please. Comment if you'd like -- they're always appreciated.
> 
> MsB

Chapter 24

 

"Such melodrama, Daredevil. Such *passion*," Octavius mocks. "Really, it makes one wonder about the nature of your relationship with young Mister Parker. Or perhaps your tastes run towards his distaff counterpart here." The tentacle holding Jessica gives her a little shake. "My, I wonder what the Daily Bugle would say if they knew of your predilection for children."

Matt's jaw clenches. The tentacles are moving and they're moving fast, whipping wildly and preventing both him and Natasha from coming in close. Sam has Mary Jane and Tony but their exit from Oscorp is about to be thwarted by the team of twenty HYDRA agents that is stationed outside the exits. Of course Octavius wouldn't come alone. He's not a fighter, even with those damned tentacles.

"Nothing else to say? How lovely. Parker is usually much more verbose and banal. Then again, he is but an ignorant child." Octavius swats viciously at Natasha and she dodges gracefully and silently.

There's a team of four coming in behind Octavius and Matt is sure Natasha knows they're coming too. But it's the familiar scent of an old enemy that gets Matt to break his silence. "You brought Rumlow. Thank you, Otto."

Sam does the smart thing, the sane thing. He grabs a pipe to use as a weapon and shoves Tony and Mary Jane under a workstation. Matt doesn't know Sam very well but now he decides he's going to have to rectify that.

"I brought more than him, fool."

Octavius is talking more than enough for both of them. Matt lunges, only to have to twist awkwardly out of the way of a damned tentacle. He's got his radar sense but in this moment, Matt would give anything for the advantage of Jessica's spider sense. Or Peter's. 

Peter.

Peter goads Octavius. He makes the smug bastard angry and reckless.

Reckless is what Matt needs, not just to get an opening to come in close to punch the smug smirk he knows is there clean off of Otto's face but also to get that damned cell phone. Surely there's a frequency that will give Jessica control of her body again. Both clones are fully conscious and neither can move. Freeing Jessica will also free Kaine, but it's a chance Matt is willing to take.

Goading Octavius is easy. All Matt has to do is speak from his heart. "You say you're a scientist. This isn't science, Otto. It's a twisted revenge fantasy against a child. A child, Otto. That makes you pathetic."

"Pathetic, am I? This from a grown man dressed as a devil?" Octavius swats viciously at Matt. "Behold my genius! A single sample of Peter Parker's blood and I've created perfect super soldier specimens, something no other scientist has done since Abraham Erskine. I hybridized a clone to replace HYDRA's precious Winter Soldier and denied one its Y chromosome to create something new! Something unique! I gave HYDRA two new weapons, the first of many and if my work just so happens to completely pervert and destroy every single part of Peter Parker's life, well, I can't say the knowledge doesn't give me a little thrill."

Matt can't do it. Can't form words. He's seeing red and it's not just his world on fire. Luckily, Matt doesn't have to speak. He's got the mouthiest sonofabitch in the world on his team.

Tony claps slowly. "Planning your Nobel Prize acceptance speech already, are you? I'm sure that's the sound bite everyone'll love. Thing is, Otto, you really ought to plan on a better haircut while you're at it. What do you do, use a soup bowl --?"

"Ah, Mister Stark. The man who drowns his genius in gallons of alcohol while behaving like an utter buffoon." Octavius swats at him but Natasha pulls Tony out of the way. "Jealous, are you? This is the most important scientific breakthrough since your friend Banner discovered gamma radiation mutation. And I did it. Not you. Not Banner, if he can even muster the nerve to return to a lab. Not Reed Richards. Me! And next year, when HYDRA's army of Thors and Captain Americas remake this world --"

The sound of Matt's fist against Octavius' jaw is possibly the sweetest sound he's ever heard. Even as a tentacle wraps itself around Matt's leg, the distraction was all that Natasha needed to grab the cell phone and toss it to Tony. As Matt sails through the air and works on minimizing the damage when he lands, he thinks about how good it is to be part of a team.

Clint is never going to let him hear the end of it.

 

00000000000000

 

"Come with me if you want to beat on a guy with a bad haircut." 

If the sight of Kitty coming through the floor has any effect on Deadpool, Kitty doesn't see it. The mercenary cocks his head at her. "Just one guy?"

"Steve said you called dibs," Kitty clarifies. Bobby will have to be impressed by that. The X-Men never call dibs, though it's pretty clear by now that Professor always has dibs on Magneto.

"Batroc? Lead the way!" Deadpool exclaims, taking her hand. "Besides, I killed all my guys. Wolverine's got the scientists locked in a vault and - hey, where's Winnie?" 

They phase through the floor, straight into the chaos of Steve hurling his shield and throwing his fists into what is clearly the group of better fighters. The ones upstairs were, Kitty realizes, the AIM equivalent of cannon fodder. She's seen this strategy more than once. Magneto loves using it. And he only uses it when he's protecting himself.

"Peter's down here somewhere so I guess Bucky is down here too, looking for him," she tells Deadpool. Except Deadpool isn't at her side. He's *skipping* towards the guy with the bad haircut, both katanas drawn.

"Batroc, old buddy, old pal. What're you doing?"

"Working," Batroc spits back, in heavily French-accented English. "May I assume the same about you? AIM will double what HYDRA's paying you and there's a bonus for capturing Captain America. There's another bonus for recovering the Asset."

"Hmm, tempting. How big a bonus are we talking about?"

"Twenty-five million each. Join me and we'll split it."

"Do I have to split with your squad or just you?"

Kitty's mouth drops open. This! This is why Logan said they couldn't trust Deadpool.

Batroc's mouth curves into a smug grin. "Just me."

"Coolio. Twelve and a half mill and all I gotta do is Asset recovery? Piece of cake. I can bring him here right now." Deadpool lifts his mask, shoves two gloved fingers into his mouth and whistles loudly enough to be heard over the chaos. "Yo! Winnie! Get your finely sculpted asset over here. Batroc wants to meet you."

Kitty didn't think it was possible for her mouth to fall open wider, but it does. Maybe it's a secondary mutation, triggered by Deadpool and the way he just played Batroc.

Bucky drops down from God only knows where and his face is a mask of pure rage as he advances on Batroc, teeth bared. Even Logan might be concerned for his well being if he saw Bucky coming at him the way he's going after Batroc.

"You promised me dibs," Deadpool complains, fists on hips.

"Not my fault you used it to yap instead of fight," Bucky says, lazily dodging a kick by Batroc.

"It's not every day I get offered twelve and a half mill to sell out my best friend. It's always nice to find out what your friends are worth though." Deadpool grabs Batroc's leg and throws him towards Bucky.

Bucky lashes out with his metal arm, catching Batroc across the shoulder. "I don't think that's what the saying means."

Deadpool shrugs when a bullet from the nearby fighting hits his left calf. "Really? Maybe it's one of those Canadian-American cultural differences."

"Kids today." Steve elbows Batroc viciously in the chest, sending the mercenary spinning towards Bucky. "The saying means finding out who your real friends are. Whether they have your back no matter what." He raises two fingers to his forehead in a salute to Deadpool and then throws himself into a bunch of AIM's heavy hitters. "Kitty, go find Peter."

Oh. That's right. She's not supposed to be standing here, watching Bucky and Deadpool beat the ever-loving crap out of that Batroc guy. 

Bucky lands a punch with his cybernetic hand that does something horrible to Batroc's face. Something, Kitty is sure, that will require much reconstructive surgery. 

"Got it from here, Wilson?" Bucky asks.

"You barely left me anything!" Deadpool sighs with exasperation. "I called dibs."

"Stop complaining. He's still breathing and there are over a hundred and eighty bones that aren't broken. Use your imagination," Bucky tells him. "Or just let the little yellow boxes guide you."

Kitty blinks. Yellow boxes? What is she missing? She looks around but there aren't any yellow boxes of any kind.

"Is that why you broke his face?" Deadpool asked. 

Bucky nods. "Damned useful, those little yellow boxes. I'll be using them from now on." He grabs Kitty's arm. "Come on, squirt. Time to find Petey."

She takes it all back.

Bobby and Rogue will never believe this.

 

00000000000000000

 

He didn't kill Batroc.

The only thing that stopped Barnes, that made him pull that punch with his cybernetic arm just enough to not turn Batroc's skull into pulp was the knowledge that Petey wouldn't like it. He'll let Deadpool cross that line. Please, God, let Deadpool cross that line. Not that Barnes believes in God anymore. 

Kitty phases half in and out of doors, frying security systems as she goes. She tells him what she sees and he repeats the information over the comm link for Steve. He makes special note of where the server room is and where the refrigerated storage units are. He plans to raid the servers and then, with Deadpool's impressive personal collection of explosives, he's going to blow up any biological material they've harvested from Petey.

"Here!" The circuits pop as Barnes grabs Kitty and hauls her back.

"Stay here," he tells her sternly.

"But --"

"Stay." There's no telling what experiments are back there, what they've done to Peter, despite his reassurances to Steve. "I'll let you know when it's clear."

Barnes doesn't bother with subtle. He tears the steel-reinforced door right off its hinges and barely glances in the direction of the two guards that open fire on him. In fact, it's more muscle memory than aim when he squeezes off two quick shots that drop them instantly.

The cells closest to the door are empty and he tries to block out memories of similar cells that surface, unbidden. He can't fall apart. Not now. He can't become the Soldier. Not until Petey is safe. After that, he's going to go away for a while and let the Soldier tear this goddamned place and everyone in it to pieces.

He strides purposefully past Nick Fury's cell, stopping at the one next to it, where a small form lies nude and vulnerable atop a thin blanket. Petey is covered in bruises and he's still wearing the shock collar and adamantium restraints.

"He expressed his dissatisfaction with the in-house dining selection," Fury tells him. "Took out a squad of seven before they got him with tranquilizer darts. Once he was down, they decided to test his healing factor the hard way."

Barnes' jaw clenches and he smashes the control panel with his cybernetic fist. The force field winks once, then vanishes. "Batroc did this?"

"Him and his guys," Fury confirms. If he's at all fazed to be speaking to the Winter Soldier, the guy who tried and damn near succeeded in killing him, Fury doesn't show it.

"Stevie? You copy that?"

Steve's voice in his ear mirrors everything Barnes is feeling. "Copied and acknowledged."

Barnes steps into the cell, over the dried remains of whatever slop they tried to feed Petey and crouches beside the unconscious boy. His jaw clenches even tighter when he sees the crude tattoo. It'll fade, he tells himself. The healing factor'll get rid of it in a couple of weeks. Or maybe Stark has something that can get rid of it sooner.

His fingers gently probe the bruises along Petey's ribs. Bruised, not broken. There are more bruises on Petey's back. Kidneys. He catalogs all the damage for Steve, speaking so softly that he wonders if Fury even hears it.

Steve hears it and Barnes can tell by the way Stevie is breathing that Batroc's guys are going to receive all that they dished out and then some. Super soldier serum or not, Stevie's righteous anger has always been a thing of beauty, though it's definitely better now that Stevie doesn't get his ass kicked.

Petey stirs as Barnes slowly strokes his hair, eyes cracking open slowly. He's groggy from whatever shit they doped him up with but he smiles blearily up at Barnes. "Uncle Ben."

"Kitty," Barnes calls out. "Go find some clothes for Petey, will ya?"

"On it!"

"Kitty Pryde?" Fury is crouched down in his cell. "You're working with the X-Men?"

Barnes ignores him. Fury means nothing to him. Less than nothing. He's another puppet master in a world full of them and he's not the reason Barnes is here.

"'M sorry," Petey slurs up at him. "Miss you so much."

"It's me, Petey. Bucky." He wraps the boy in the blanket and pulls him close, watching carefully as Petey fights his way back from the shit in his system. Gritting his teeth, he addresses Fury. "How long's he been out?"

"Forty minutes."

That's one piece of good news, Barnes thinks. The kid should be coming out of it any minute.

"I found some sweats in one of the lockers." Kitty comes up through the floor behind him. "They've got the AIM logo and they're a really nasty shade of yellow."

Barnes flinches at the unexpected arrival. Nobody gets the drop on the Winter Soldier. Or, they didn't until he met mutants. He's going to need to train with these guys, learn more about them. She reaches past him, running a hand through both sets of restraints and the collar, which drop off of Petey with metallic clanks. "Thanks, squirt."

Kitty destroys the force field of Fury's cell and recoils. "Oh, you're wearing those ugly sweats too."

"The logo is uglier than the color, Miss Pryde." Fury peers into Petey's cell, just as Barnes slips the sweat pants up onto the boy's hips. "I'm impressed that the Avengers are working together with the X-Men to rescue Mr. Parker."

"Didn't you know?" Kitty asks. "We're not here to rescue him. Peter planned to get taken so we could rescue you, Director."

Fury's eye goes wide. "He what?"

"He did this to rescue your worthless ass," Barnes snarls, setting a now-dressed Petey down and leaping to his feet. He gets into Fury's face. "You. The guy who's been stealin' samples of his blood and building tech to take him down."

He has to give Fury credit. The man does not back down, even when being confronted by the Winter Soldier. "A sample. One and we took it from Osborn. The tech was decommissioned when Rogers agreed to train Parker."

"HYDRA and AIM both have it, thanks to you," Barnes grates. He jabs a finger in Kitty's direction. "Thanks to this kid, a dozen of those Spider Slayer things are history." 

Anything else he wants to say gets put on hold when Petey staggers out of his cell, blinking sleepily. "Bucky? Kitty?" His gaze swings in Kitty's direction and groggy though the kid is, he's grabbing Kitty and kissing her before the girl knows what just hit her.

"You lost the bet, Buck," Steve calls from the entrance to this god-forsaken cell block. "He didn't ask for pizza when he woke up."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25  
  
  
  
  
One of the drawbacks of growing up as a child genius was that not only did Tony have all the cool toys, but that he made them all himself.  Cool toys never got Tony picked to play on teams with the other kids.  Even when he made one that could pitch a ball perfectly every time.  No, he's not bitter.  It's not like he actually *wanted* to play baseball or football or whatever.    
  
Anyway, that was then.  Today, Tony makes the cool toys and he's on the team with the jocks and the weirdos.  Because this team?  They get why making stuff and knowing how stuff works is every bit as important as being the Norse God of Thunder or a World War Two legend.  
  
Not that Tony's a weak sister without his armor but hey, he will readily admit that he's on the wrong side of forty and he's not about to trade blows with a team of HYDRA guys.  Even with the stuff Clint and Natasha have been teaching him.  
  
This team, though, plays to specialties and Tony's specialty is solving problems.  Natasha, bless her, just tossed him one.  Octavius' phone.  So while ex-Air Force-and-current-Falcon Sam dives right into the fray and starts brawling along with Natasha and Matt, Tony crouches under the desk with Mary Jane and hacks into Otto's phone in less than a minute.  The frequency app is unimaginatively called Frequency.   Tony rolls his eyes at that.  And while he's a little impressed at the number of frequencies the clones are programmed to respond to, he resolves to figure out how to deprogram Jessica, starting with the frequency that's marked 'self destruct.'  
  
Whoever designed the app is either a genius or an idiot.  Each frequency is labelled clearly and is activated not with a tap but with a slide button.  Cool.  Multiple frequencies can be activated at once.  Or not cool.  Not really.  He kind of likes the girl clone.  And Murdock's adopted her.  So with Murdock's furious reaction in mind, Tony decides against playing with the app and using HYDRA's frequencies against them.  Instead, his finger hovers over the frequency marked 'paralyze.'  
  
He glances over at Mary Jane. "Ready?  I need to free both of them.  I can't guarantee what Kaine'll do --"  
  
"He's going to kill Doc Ock," Mary Jane says tonelessly.  "You heard what he said about screwing with Peter's life.  Kaine isn't going to just take that and he's a killer."  
  
"Jessica won't let him --"  
  
"Jessica?  That's the girl clone, right?"  
  
"Uh, yeah."  
  
"Does she think she's Peter, too?"  
  
Why couldn't they be having a conversation about sex or drugs or something?  Normal adult-teenager awkward conversation topics.  "Um, sort of.  She's trying not to --"  
  
"So, she's what?  In love with me too?"  
  
"Probably."  Honesty.  Honesty is good, right?    
  
"This is... It's crazy!  Do you see how crazy this is?"  
  
Tony snorts a laugh.  "Have you seen where I live, who I live with and the stuff we do together?  Of course it's crazy. I'm seeing a shrink."  Oops.  That just came out, didn't it?  
  
Mary Jane blinks at him.  "You are?"  
  
"Damn right.  PTSD and proud, Brainy.  You fly a nuke through a hole in space and see if your worldview isn't a little cock-eye afterwards."  He leans closer.  "All of those guys need their heads shrunk.  Captain Clean-cut?  That guy's a ticking time bomb and his bestie with the arm is a ticking nuke.  Murdock?  They could write books about his issues.  The only one who seems to have his head on straight is Thor and he's a fucking alien."  
  
"And Pepper.  How does Pepper deal with all of this?"  
  
Tony shakes his head.  "That's her super power, I think.  Look, how about I send you to my shrink and also maybe you and I can do sessions together?  We can have matching 'PTSD and Proud' t-shirts and do therapy and then go get ice cream after or something because you're too young to cope with bourbon, like I do."  
  
Mary Jane nods, cringing against him as Murdock kicks a HYDRA guy clean across the room.    
  
"Here," Tony says, passing the phone to her.  "Want to wake the clones?"  
  
She shakes her head and shoves the phone back at him.  "You do it."  
  
"Here goes nothing."  
  
  
000000000000000000000000000  
  
  
He needs to die.  Doc Ock needs to die.  
  
She's a kid.  They won't put her in jail.  
  
No, they'll stick her in a lab somewhere.  
  
And why?    
  
Because of him.  
  
Because he *made* her.  
  
Because he could.  
  
He needs to die.  
  
All Jessica can do is watch and listen while Ock stands there bragging about ruining her life.  Peter's life.  No, her life, too.  Mocking Matt.  And -- jeez -- implying Matt's some kind of pedophile with a Spidey kink.  Yuck!   Meanwhile, Matt is getting scary-mad.  She -- no, Peter -- has seen Matt get angry, but not like this.  Not this kind of angry.  This is the kind of angry that would make him cross the line.  
  
The same line she's thinking of crossing.  
  
If she could freaking move.  
  
Everything happens at once.  Matt punches Ock, Natasha gets the phone and here comes Rumlow, leading a strike team.  
  
Jessica.  Cannot.  Move.  
  
Not to go after Ock.  Not to go after Rumlow.    
  
And not to stop Matt from doing the worst thing he can possibly do.  
  
Her muscles twitch painfully and webbing shoots involuntarily from her fingers.  She knows this sensation far too well from days of tests in those damned labs.  Her body is back under her own control again and there's only one thing she wants to do but it's not kill Ock.  Not anymore.  
  
First, she has to save Matt from himself.  
  
  
  
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Peter pulls away from Kitty and he's blushing a deep shade of red.  "I-I-I-I... Oh my God.  I'm sorry.  I-I didn't mean...."  
  
"You were drugged," Kitty says, waving a hand and her cheeks are pinked as well.  "Forget it."  
  
Steve can fit what he knows about dames onto the head of a pin and still have room for a hell of a lot of angels but even he can tell that Kitty doesn't want Peter to forget it.  
  
"I-I'm sorry," Peter stammers.  "That wasn't --"  
  
"It's okay.  I have a boyfriend, Peter."  
  
"You do?"  
  
She does? Steve blinks.  Could have fooled him.  He's not an expert by any means but even he could see that Kitty has a huge crush on Peter.  And she liked being kissed by him more than she's admitting.  
  
"Bobby.  Remember him?"  
  
"Oh."   Peter rubs the back of his neck and ducks his head.  "So we're okay then."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Okay."   Kitty clears her throat.  "Um, so I'm gonna go see if Jean and the guys need any help out there."  With that, she airwalks straight up through the ceiling.  
  
"That wasn't awkward," Fury murmurs.  
  
Steve's not surprised in the least when Bucky reaches out and snags Peter by the collar of his sweatshirt.  "C'mere, Romeo."  
  
"I-I..it wasn't... I didn't mean," Peter sputters as Bucky tugs him into an embrace.  
  
Fury's eye goes wide and then he directs his stare at Steve who shrugs, as if seeing the world's deadliest assassin hugging Spider-man isn't anything unusual.  Well, it isn't for Steve, anyway.  
  
Bucky rests his chin atop Peter's head and the tension slides from his face as he closes his eyes.  Then he thrusts Peter away, holding him arm's length while he looks the boy over.  "Tell me what they did to you and name names."  
  
"There was that Batroc guy --"  
  
"Taken care of.  Him and his crew," Bucky assures Peter.  "Tell me about the docs and the scientists."  
  
Peter rubs his left shoulder.  "Uh, well first they slapped a tattoo on me and re-named me 01.  Then this Doctor Albright lady, uh, examined me.  She took a lot of notes, six vials of blood, hair samples and skin scrapings."  
  
"Anything else?"  
  
"They tried to make me drink some kind of gross taupe colored stuff."  
  
Peter's complaint about the meal is almost funny until Bucky says, "Liquid nutrition.  That's how they keep you dependent on them.  They wipe your memories of real food and that's all you know so you can't eat, can't feed yourself --"  
  
"Why you have trouble sometimes," Peter concludes.  
  
"Why I have trouble sometimes," Bucky agrees.  
  
Peter flings his arms around Bucky and Bucky seems to *melt* under the attention.  "Nobody's ever doing that to you again."  
  
Fury's eye ticks from them to Steve.  "When did this happen?"  
  
"About a month ago," Steve shrugs.  "How long have you been here?"  
  
"About a month."  Fury glances over at Peter and Bucky.  "He seems a lot less dangerous."  
  
"He's living with Peter and his aunt."    
  
"Since when?"  
  
"Almost a month," Steve tells him blandly.  The hell with it, he decides, hooking his fingers into the neck of Peter's sweatshirt and hauling him over for a hug.  "I'm proud of you, Peter."  
  
Peter is stiff at first and then his arms slowly slide around Steve.  
  
Bucky's right.  Hugging the boy is therapeutic.    
  
"Um, so," Peter says when Steve releases him.  "I -- hey!"  
  
Whatever Peter was about to say is cut off when Fury grabs the boy and stares down at him sternly.  "Let me get this straight, Parker.  You let them capture you so you could find me.  Is that what happened?"  
  
"Uh... Yeah?"  
  
"You don't like me much, do you?"  
  
"Well, no...  I mean...  You're, uh..."  
  
"But you did it anyway.  Why?"  
  
Peter, who'd been cringing under the verbal assault, stands up straight.  "Because it was the right thing to do.  I think you're a jerk and a bully and I seriously do not understand most of the crap you do in the name of world security or whatever but this?"  He gestures wildly at the cells.  "You're right about this.  Somebody needs to shut this down.  I'm just not so sure that someone should be you."  
  
Fury folds his arms over his chest.  "You've been learning a lot of hard truths, haven't you, son?"  
  
Peter shrugs.  
  
"If you spent more time in my shoes, you'd understand the crap I do in the name of world security.  It's not pretty but this is the world we live in."    
  
"You made machines to kill me!"  
  
"My job is understanding human moves, kid," Fury tells him.  "You got bit by that spider and you were so busy playing hero with your new powers you didn't know what having those powers meant.  You do now, don't you?"  
  
Peter's jaw clenches.  "You mean about HYDRA and AIM and all those other groups with stupid names that want to take pieces of me so they can have super soldiers?  Yeah, I'm getting that."  
  
"Now.  You get it now.  I spent the first six months of your existence as Spider-man making sure none of that touched you while I kept an eye on your doings.  Even without HYDRA and AIM breathing all down your neck, the shit that's been done to you... "  Fury glances up at Steve and then back at Peter.  "I was worried that what I was looking at was the birth of the next big super villain.  And with what you can do, Parker, that made you dangerous."  
  
"B-but I didn't --"  
  
"No.  You didn't," Fury agrees.  "You did the exact opposite.  I decommissioned the Spider Slayers the day Steve told me he was taking responsiblity for you.  And today?  I saw what you've learned.  Today, I saw the birth of somebody really special, Parker."    
  
"Oh...uh..."  
  
There's the faintest smile on Fury's lips.  "Just don't fuck it up before you graduate high school.  I want that brilliant mind working on my team, Parker.  You've got it in you to be the next Reed Richards as well as the next Steve Rogers."  
  
Peter's gaze darts up to Steve who is as confused as Peter.  
  
"You have one very important acronym in your future, Parker," Fury tells him.  "The SATs.  I expect to see top marks so you can get into MIT --"  
  
"Empire State University," Peter cuts him off.  "I want to study with Dr. Connors."  Then he hangs his head.  "I just... it's expensive.  I don't know if I can afford it."  
  
Fury's hands grip Peter's shoulders.  "Remember I said when you turn eighteen, you're mine?  Mine means a full ride to the college of your choice, Parker, as long as you keep those grades up.   It means a full ride to grad school.  However many degrees you need to get the education to live up to all that potential, it's paid for.  Mine was supposed to mean becoming an Avenger, but you're already part of the team, aren't you?"  
  
"I killed all my guys and I'm bored," Deadpool calls from the doorway.  "Oh, hey.  Is that the real Nick Fury?"  
  
Fury's jaw drops.  "Deadpool?"  
  
Steve has to bite back his grin at Fury's reaction and that means not looking at Bucky or Peter when he says, "Speaking of already being part of the team..."  
  
  
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Matt hears that sound and he knows the instant that Jessica can move again because the first thing she does is throw herself at Doc Ock.  He'd join her but he's in a re-match with Rumlow.  Crossbones.  Whatever he's calling himself.  It doesn't matter.  Matt is going to break every bone in his body.  
  
Rumlow's learned a thing or two since their last encounter.  He's going after Matt as if Matt were Steve, using every trick in the book besides relying on sheer physical strength.  It's Matt's radar that warns him of the magnetic cuffs, which he kicks in the direction of Doc Ock's arms.  Maybe Jessica can use them to her advantage.  
  
The loss of one weapon doesn't deter Rumlow from pulling a stun baton from the holster on his thigh.  Matt's jaw clenches.  Jessica's mentioned the stun baton, though not in great detail.  He pulls his own batons and knocks the stun baton out of Rumlow's hand before he can even turn the thing on.  
  
Despite his focus, he smells the organic webs at the same time he hears the stun baton hum to life.  Jessica swings in fast, zapping Rumlow as she goes.  The HYDRA agent drops.  Matt proceeds to beat the hell out of him anyway.  
  
"Hey, Dad-Devil."  Jessica yanks him off.  "How about leaving some for me?"  
  
He knows what she's doing. And she's right.  "Finish him.  Then we take down Ock."  
  
No sooner are the words out of his mouth than his radar sense is overwhelmed.  Metallic fragments, hunks of metal, pipes, beams -- anything metal -- is being pulled into a maelstrom.  Whatever HYDRA operatives are standing instantly flatten themselves, as do Natasha, Sam, Tony and Mary Jane.  
  
"He controls metal," Jessica explains, throwing a protective web net over them.  "That's what Oz did to him."  
  
"Jessica and Kaine," Ock calls out as every piece of metal suddenly crashes to the floor, taking out at least ten of his HYDRA allies who weren't able to find cover.  "Surrender right now or I'll simply kill you and clone a pair of replacements."  
  
"Wow, you have way with girls, don't you, Otto?"  Jessica launches herself at him.  "How about I rip off your head and use it as a --- hey!"  
  
Ock swats her with a tentacle, sending her crashing into Kaine.  "Insolent child.  I created you.  Made you.  And I will kill you, Jessica.  I will tear you to pieces for your insolence."  
  
Kaine recovers first, leaping over debris to grab a tentacle.  
  
Jessica matches him.  
  
Ock's tentacles whip wildly, sending both clones flying in opposite directions.  
  
It's distraction enough for Matt to throw his club at Ock's head and he smiles in satisfaction when it hits with a satisfying 'thwok'.  Unfortunately, it's not enough.  Tentacles claw at the air and then drive sharply into the debris on the floor, narrowly missing Matt.  
  
"Cease your pointless struggling, Jessica.  Embrace your defeat."  
  
"How about you embrace shutting up?"  She dodges a tentacle.    
  
"This?" Ock sneers.  "From you?  You who has inherited Parker's irritating attempt at witty repartee --- ullllkkk!"  
  
Matt knows that sound all too well.  It's sharp metal, tearing through a lung, just missing the heart.  Potentially fatal enough, though.  He's knows the heartbeat of the person who did it.  Kaine.  
  
"You made me into a monster," Kaine says and this is neither Barnes nor Peter's inflection.  These are the flat, emotionless tones of the Winter Soldier.  "You need to die."  
  
There's the tell-tale sound of a tentacle sliding into place and Matt can't help screaming when the sharpened claws at the end pierce Kaine's chest.  Another tentacle pierces Kaine's skull.  
  
"I made you," Ock tells the corpse.  "And I programmed you to always accept my punishments, boy.  A foolish oversight on my part with you, Jessica, but then I assumed you'd be daddy's good little girl."  
  
Ock is losing blood fast and Matt ducks under the tentacles to deliver the coup-de-grace that will take him out, but not kill him.  No matter how much he deserves it. "She's Dad-Devil's good little super hero, you arrogant ass."  
  
  
  
  
  



	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Tell her," Foggy orders.
> 
> Matt's chin rises slightly as his head turns so that he's facing Karen head-on. "I'm Daredevil."
> 
> Karen can't help it. She bursts into laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, what a ride. 26 chapters. A story deleted and reposted. So many kudos and comments. How do I say thank you? Well, as some of you may have noticed, Part 5 has already begun. It's a lighter story for a change and thank goodness. Thanks again to all of you for finding me, kudoing, re-kudoing and reviewing. This is for you!

Chapter 26  
  
  
  
Clint thought he understand the saying, 'may the wind always be at your back.'  That was before he had a bona fide weather controlling mutant putting the wind at his back or anywhere else he needed it to keep his arrows flying true.  And if he misses -- rare, but it happens --  Jean uses her telekinesis to send the arrow where it belongs.  Between the three of them, the AIM security teams are history in less time than it takes to microwave a burrito.  Well, almost.  But Clint plans to stick to the burrito analogy.  
  
The absolute kicker of the story is that Deadpool was right. The X-Men have way cooler powers than the Avengers.  And Clint will die before he admits that Deadpool was right about anything.  He will, however, beat the snot out of anyone who ever says anything bad about mutants in his presence.  
  
_Professor Xavier prefers a non-violent approach_ , Jean tells him.  
  
_He's got his approach, I've got mine_ , Clint tells her and then he experiences Jean's psychic laughter.  It's like champagne bubbles in his mind.  
  
They've mopped up a little over a dozen AIM guys when Maria Hill and a squad of SHIELD agents show up, barking orders and securing the prisoners.  It doesn't escape Clint's notice how quickly the X-Men retreat to their Blackbird, even Logan.  He watches wistfully as they take off and wishes he could have hung with them a little longer.  Or at least have gone with them to avoid the endless debriefing that he's going to have to suffer through now.  
  
Fury emerges from the facility, Cap and Barnes behind him and Peter trailing behind all of them.  The kid looks exhausted and Clint doesn't blame him in the least.   Between the clones and the emotional trauma, the kid needs to sleep for a week.  Just like Clint.  
  
Hill's mouth drops open.  "Sir --"  
  
"The clone, Hill," Fury cuts her off.  
  
"Secured."  She straightens under his gaze and it's no wonder she's embarrassed, Clint thinks to himself.  All this time and she had no idea the guy she was reporting to was a HYDRA clone.  "Transports are on the way for the prisoners inside."  
  
"Um..."  Peter raises his hand, like he needs permission to speak.  Clint rolls his eyes.  "Excuse me?"  
  
Fury turns.  "What is it, kid?"  
  
"You need to get down.  Now."  
  
Barnes' mouth quirks into a sly smile that Clint immediately translates into... "Deadpool."  
  
"Hit the dirt, people!" Fury barks.  
  
Everyone obeys Fury just as the AIM bunker blows.  
  
  
  
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"SHIELD's here," Murdock announces.  "Time to go, Jessica."  
  
Sam winces as Tony helps him to his feet.  There's a huge cut down his left leg that's going to need a lot of stitches.  Natasha appears to have a concussion and some broken ribs.  And Mary Jane?  She's in shock.  Tony doesn't blame her a bit. If he didn't have to deal with SHIELD right now, he'd probably sitting on the floor with her with an equally blanked out expression.  Unfortunately, he's the guy who's going to have to suck it up and take charge.  
  
What, Tony wonders, would Steve do?  Steve is great at dealing with these bureaucratic clowns.  Tony has zero patience and also gives zero fucks about their missions, priorities and rules.  He's fairly certain Steve doesn't have much patience left for SHIELD either, but the Old Man puts up a good front.  He hits them with those big blue patriotic eyes and always says the right thing.  Steve puts up with being debriefed and filling out boring paperwork.  Steve, Tony concludes, is an idiot sometimes.  
  
Unfortunately, Tony has to suck it up right now and do his best Steve imitation until Pepper gets here to deal with whoever thinks they're in charge.  It's the only way to distract SHIELD while Murdock does the right thing and gets Jessica out of here before they notice there's a Spider-clone that's still alive.  He's under no illusions that SHIELD is going to want that science for their very own, especially when HYDRA and now AIM have it.  
  
"Jessica?"  Murdock tilts his head. "Damn it.  She's gone."  
  
Apparently, Jessica reached the same conclusion as Tony and took off.  
  
Tony approaches Murdock, carefully stepping over piles of sharp debris.  "You should get out of here yourself.  She's probably on her way back to your place anyway."  
  
"She could be on her way to anywhere," Murdock shoots back.  
  
"She could be," Tony agrees.  "But she's not."  
  
"What makes you so sure, Stark?"  
  
His own shitty childhood, for starters.  The way Murdock has been acting since he found the kid.  The way a parent, in Tony's imagination of what responsible parenting looks like, should.  "I'd say trust me, but I know you don't, so instead, I'm going to say 'pretend to trust me.'  You'll decide whether you can trust me when Banner and I figure out how to deprogram those trigger frequencies Octavius stuck in her head."  
  
Murdock's mouth opens, like he's about to say something, and then closes.  He leaps over the debris with more grace than a human being should have and disappears into the shadows.  
  
Tony sighs and steps outside, hands raised.  "Okay?  Which one of you agents is Agent Agent?"  
  
  
  
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"This is where I say goodbye," Deadpool says.  
  
Barnes narrows his eyes at the mercenary.  "What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean I did what I promised Spidey-boy I'd do.  Okay, I promised I'd take out a single lab and ended up taking out two which is actually twice as much work as I promised to do, but I'm not keeping score or anything."  Deadpool cocks his head up at the Quinjet.  "And I got to team up with you and Captain America, which was like on my bucket list.  If I could, you know, actually die."  
  
SHIELD dropped them off back in Schenectady where they've spent the past hour going over every inch of the Quinjet to make sure there weren't any HYDRA, AIM or SHIELD surprises hidden anywhere.  Now that they're actually ready to head back to the city, Deadpool's announcement is coming as a bit of surprise to Barnes.  "I thought you wanted to be an Avenger."  
  
"Too many rules."  Deadpool makes a dismissive noise.  "Plus the whole 'kill this guy, don't kill that guy' thing is too confusing.  I like being able to kill everybody and not having to worry about it."  
  
Barnes hates to admit it, but he can see the logic in that.  "At least say goodbye to everyone."  
  
"As the wise man once said, never give a sucker an even break."  Deadpool turns to his left.  "Are you sure?  Okay, a wise man said that but then some other wise guy said always leave them wanting more.  Sorry.  I'm not great with inspirational stuff.  One of those probably applies."  
  
Barnes thinks both saying might actually be appropriate in this case.  He holds out his hand.  "Well, look, it's been, uh..."  
  
Deadpool throws his arms around him.  "I feel the same way, Winnie!  I do!  And I'm not really gone.  I'll be back when you need me.  You can bet your boots that when a good, jolly December wind kisses... No.  That's Frosty the Snowman.  Shit.  Well, trust me.  If you need me, I'll come a-runnin'."  
  
With that, the crazy merc fragments and disappears, teleporting to God only knows where.  
  
Barnes stares at the space where Deadpool stood just a second ago, shakes his head and gets on the plane.  
  
  
  
  
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"I need to tell you something," Peter and Mary Jane say at the same time.  
  
"You first," Peter offers.  
  
Mary Jane licks her lips and tugs at her Black Widow hoodie.  "I... I need a break."  
  
Peter feels faint.  Dizzy.  Oh God, he's about to have a panic attack.  "A-a break?"  
  
"A break."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Why?" Mary Jane repeats, eyes going wide with disbelief.  "Hello!  Have you seen your life?" 

"I-I..."  He sighs and hangs his head.  "I'm sorry."  
  
"It's not your fault."  
  
"It's not?"  Peter glances back towards the house.  He can hear Bucky's laughter and Steve's as they talk with Aunt May over a dinner of homemade meat loaf.  Nobody can hear his world crashing and burning in the backyard.  Or if they do, they're pretending it's not happening.  "It is.  If I hadn't told you my secret --"  
  
"You think I wouldn't have found out when your crazy clone came after me?  Or when Norman Osborn tried to kill me?"  Mary Jane can't even look at him. Instead, she's picking at the purple polish on her fingernails. "And Doc Ock.  Kaine.  That girl clone.  Peter, I-I need a break."  
  
Peter hangs his head.  "That's what I told Matt today when he told me to come over and meet that Jessica girl."  
  
"She's you!  She talks like you, sh-she --"  
  
"I know."  
  
"You should meet her."  
  
"I can't.  Not yet."  
  
"Exactly.  Not yet.  I can't deal with all this..."  Mary Jane waves her hands in the air.  "Right now.  We're still friends.  We can still talk but just not for a little while, okay?  I need to time to... Something."  
  
It's not okay but he says it anyway. "Okay."  
  
"Good.  Tony and I are going to our first therapy session tomorrow."  She sighs and stuffs her hands into the pockets of her hoodie.  "So what was it you wanted to tell me?"  
  
"It's not important."  Not anymore.  He watches Mary Jane as she crosses the street and walks back to her house.  When he's stopped crying and he's sure nobody else will notice, he goes back inside.  
  
  
  
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"Three days.  You've been gone for three days!  Do you have any idea how worried I was?" Matt shouts.  His cowl is shoved back and he's pacing angrily in his apartment in his Daredevil suit.  Even though he can't make eye contact, Jessica knows that he can hear, smell and taste her reaction.  
  
"Um...  Kind of getting it now," she ventures.  
  
"Now," he repeats.  "As opposed to the three days you've been gone.  Where were you?"  
  
"Wow, you're really serious about this Dad-Devil thing --"  
  
"Did you think I wasn't?"  
  
"I-I just..."  
  
"You just what?"  
  
"Dude, stop cross-examining me!"  Jessica is on her feet and halfway to the window by the time she finishes that sentence.  
  
Matt's voice is like thunder, freezing her in her tracks.  "Do not even *think* of leaving this apartment!"  
  
He couldn't stop her, she thinks, not physically anyway, but that's not the point.  With a weary sigh, Jessica drops cross-legged to the floor.  "Are you going to stop shouting now?"  
  
"I'm not shouting!"  There's a beat and then he looks contrite.  "Sorry.  I've been looking everywhere for you.  When you vanished --"  
  
"I was kind of freaked out," Jessica admits, picking at a tear in her costume.  "I mean, I'm the last clone standing.  And then there's the whole 'what do I do with my life now' question.  I know who made me.  I know why he made me and if that's not a whole lifetime of therapy and drugs right there, I don't know what is.  How am I supposed to deal with knowing that a crazy scientist created me mostly out of spite?"  
  
Matt drops down across from her.  "Do you know how many kids are conceived for the same reason?  Or as excuses to keep terrible relationships going?"  
  
"The sins of the father?"  
  
"You're an orphan, Jessica.  You get to choose to have a father."  
  
Jessica sighs and closes her eyes.  "I'm not an orphan.  I'm the broken thing Doc Ock made out of Peter Parker.  I don't have a mother or a father.  I'm *not* Peter.  I'm this... thing.  And if I'm going to survive, I have to become something else.  That's what I've spent the last three days processing."  
  
"You have to," Matt agrees.  "But you get to decide."  
  
"I do."  She reaches out, touching his face with her gloved fingertips and then pulls back quickly.  "I need to be clear with you about a few things."  
  
His head tilts slightly, nostrils flaring as he gives her his full enhanced attention.  
  
"I'm not Peter.  I'm a girl and I have lady parts."  
  
Matt's lips curve into a smile.  "I noticed."  
  
"I like girls.  That's kind of frowned upon by the Church."  
  
"I'm fairly certain the Church frowns on the things I do too," Matt shrugs.  "If that's your way of asking whether I can accept you, the answer is yes.  You can't grow up in New York City without knowing and caring for people whose lives differ from yours.  If you're struggling with your identity, Pepper has a list of doctors and there are so many organizations in the city for you to support who you are.  In fact, there's a PFLAG group meeting tomorrow night that --"  
  
"A PFLAG meeting?" Jessica echoes.  
  
His voice is calm and smooth.  "I've been doing some reading so that I could support you however you needed it.  For example, I spoke to Bruce about whether gender reassignment could be possible given your healing factor.  He's looking into that."  
  
"Oh.  Wow.  You did that?"  
  
"While you were..."  He makes a show of sniffing the air and wrinkles his nose.  "Eating out of dumpsters?  Really?  Just because you've got a healing factor and probably can doesn't mean you should.  At any rate, yes, while you were off having an existential crisis, I've been looking into ways to support you."  
  
"But that's the one thing that still doesn't make sense."  She bites her lip and looks away, focusing on the garish electronic billboard out the window.  "Why do you want to take me in?  I mean, I know how close you and Peter are but I'm not Peter.  And --"  
  
"Why did you come to me in the first place?" Matt counters.  
  
"Because you remind us of Uncle Ben."  Jessica winces because that's something Peter probably never wanted to tell Matt.  The hell with it, she decides.  "You always know the right thing to say and do."  
  
He snorts at this.  "Foggy would beg to differ."  
  
"As an adult, yeah.  To someone our age?  Who puts on a silly costume and does exactly what you do?  You're someone we trust."  
  
Matt cocks his head to one side, an exaggeration more than him trying to suss out more information from her.  "You came to me, holding out that trust.  What else was I supposed to do but prove it was well-founded?  You know that after my father was murdered I was sent to an orphanage.  How could I do that to you, knowing what I know about you?"  
  
"You could have dumped me on Steve."  
  
"That would have been amusing for about an hour."  He gets slowly to his feet.  "I gave you my name and I'm offering you a home and everything that comes with it.  Both good and bad.  Meaning, that if you choose to stay now, you are so very, very grounded."  
  
"But I don't have any privileges!" Jessica protests.  
  
"Yet."  
  
  
  
  
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Team dinners have taken a whole new turn, thanks to their new allies, the X-Men.  Instead of dinner today, the groups are getting acquainted with a picnic at Xavier's school in Westchester.  The school is a mansion, housed on a sprawling estate.  It's the kind of place Steve fantasized about when he was a kid spending the last years of his youth in a cramped orphanage.  
  
Xavier is regarding him with eyes that are both kind and wistful.  "I'm glad you like my school, Captain."  
  
"Steve."  He narrows his eyes slightly and asks, "Are you reading my mind?"  
  
"Charles and no, just your expression."    
  
Steve watches as Logan and Bucky wrestle each other on the grass, shirtless, while Xavier's students cheer them on.  The crowd seems to be mostly female, which doesn't surprise Steve in the least.  "I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself to you sooner."  
  
"You were blinded, I suppose, by SHIELD's representation of the 'mutant problem'," Charles says.  "It isn't hard to accept that world view when one sees the destruction wrought by those who misuse their gifts, though the same can be said of any group, regardless of whether they're mutants."  
  
"I grew up in the era of the 'Jewish Problem' and the 'Final Solution'," Steve reminds him.  "I don't agree with that kind of mindset.  There just didn't seem to be a right way to reach out to you, not without making you instantly suspicious of my motives."  
  
"It seems then we've both been guilty of a lack of social graces."  Charles smiles up at Steve warmly.  "As you noticed, I made no attempt to contact you either.  I feared you might regard such an attempt as disingenuous, particularly in light of Magneto's escape from the Triskelion."  
  
Bucky pins Logan and instead of the boos and hisses Steve expected from Xavier's students, there is cheering.  The young ones, especially, seem enthralled by him.  He saunters over towards the table where Steve and Charles are sitting and helps himself to a glass of lemonade.  
  
"Excellent form, James," Xavier tells him.  "I wonder, would you consider training the children?  I think you have a great deal to teach them and they seem rather fond of you already."  
  
Bucky cuts his eyes to Steve and then looks steadily back at Xavier.  "I-I'm not... I'm not in control of myself.  Not as much as I want to be.  It's probably not safe for them."  
  
"Peter explained your situation to me," Xavier says.    
  
"Petey what?"  
  
"The boy cares deeply for you, James."  
  
Steve nods his agreement but doesn't dare speak.  He needs to know if Xavier can help Bucky.  It's been on his mind since Jean made the suggestion.  
  
Xavier steeples his fingers, resting his chin on them as he regards Bucky steadily.  "I cannot restore your memories, I'm afraid.  The process HYDRA used caused physical damage, which as I understand it from my discussions with Hank and Dr. Banner, is repairing itself.  The healing process is what's causing your memories to erupt as suddenly and painfully as they do."  
  
The disappointment on Bucky's face makes Steve's gut clench.  "Well, thanks anyway, Professor --"  
  
"I said I cannot restore your memories, James," Xavier interrupts with a firm voice that softens considerably as he continues.  "I didn't say there was nothing I could do for you.  For example, I can disable the HYDRA triggers that remain and we can work together to set up a series of psychic blocks that will allow you to choose when and how to deal with your newly recovered memories, rather than be overcome by them as they surface."  
  
"You can do that?" Bucky asks quietly.  
  
"I can."  
  
"Petey knew you could?"  
  
"He knew I could help you in some fashion," Xavier responds and he's actually humble when he says it.  "That boy is a treasure, gentlemen.  He represents hope for human-mutant relations.  As do you and your team-mates."  
  
Steve glances out across the lawn where 'the treasure' is dodging an attack of ice balls being thrown by Bobby Drake.  Kitty and that Rogue girl are laughing at their antics.  Tony, Bruce and Hank McCoy are off in a lab somewhere on the premises talking science.  Natasha and Clint are having what looks like a serious discussion with Jean, Scott Summers and Peter Rasputin.  Pepper is laughing at something Ororo and Kurt are telling her.  
  
The only one missing is Matt Murdock because, of course, Matt doesn't like the idea of the X-Men knowing his secret identity.  
  
Steve is sure he'll come around.  Eventually.  
  
  
00000000000000000  
  
  
"Oh, come on!"  Karen opens the copier door and scowls at the paper path for the third time in the past four minutes.  "I've unjammed you twice already.  What is your problem?"  
  
"Maybe you need to buy it a drink?" Foggy suggests.  He reaches into his briefcase and pulls out a bottle of champagne.  "Or we could have one."  
  
Karen cuts her eyes to Matt, who's standing behind Foggy.  She's used to seeing him come in with bruises and today is no exception.  What she's not used to is the dazed expression on his face.  "Matt?  Is everything okay?"  
  
"It's fine," Foggy answers, locking the office door behind Matt.  "Conference room, Matty."  He watches Matt walk slowly into the conference room.  "We're celebrating."  
  
"We are?"  Karen glances at Matt again.  He doesn't look like he's in a celebratory mood to her.  
  
Foggy nods and flashes one of his shit-eating grins.  "We are.  After you."  
  
"Should I sit?" Karen asks.  
  
"I would," Matt tells her.  
  
She sits, folding her hands primly in front of her.  The only thing she can think of is that this isn't a celebration, that they can't afford to keep her on and they're going to fire her.  No.  What if they found out about Wesley?  No, wait.  Foggy is smiling.  This has nothing to do with her, does it?  Not with Matt looking like he's about to face a firing squad.  
  
"Tell her," Foggy orders.  
  
Matt's chin rises slightly as his head turns so that he's facing Karen head-on.  "I'm Daredevil."  
  
Karen can't help it.  She bursts into laughter.  
  
Foggy looks alarmed.  "He really is!"  
  
"I know, Foggy.  I've known for a while now.   The only thing I've been wondering is when the two of you were going to tell me."  She looks over at Matt whose expression is somewhere between nauseous and constipated.  "What'd you do?  Lose a bet?"  
  
"Something like that," Matt murmurs.  
  
Foggy pops open the bottle of champagne.  "Matty's an Avenger, too."  
  
"That I did not know!"  
  
"And he's a dad."  
  
"What?"  Karen's mouth drops open.  
  
"That's what we're celebrating," Foggy explains, pouring the champagne into paper coffee cups for each of them.  "We're celebrating that Matt finally told you the truth about being Dad-Devil."  
  
"I'll drink to that," Karen says.


End file.
